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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 
BULLETIN No. 354 



Contribotion from the Forest Service 
HENRY S. GRAVES, Forester 



Washington, D. C. 



October 20, 1916 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO 

PAST, PRESENT, AND FUTURE 

AND THEIR PHYSICAL AND ECONOMIC ENVIRONMENT 



By 
LOUIS S. MURPHY, Forest Examiner 

In Cooperation with tlie Goyernment of Porto Rico Board of CommlaaioiMra 

of Agriculture. John A. Wilson, Temporary President, 

Succeeded by Tulio Larrinaga, President 



CONTENTS 



Page 

Introduction 1 

Physical and Economic Features: 

Geograpliic Situation 2 

Physiography and Soils g 

Drainage 7 

Climate 7 

Land Distribution, Utilization, and 

Taxation 9 

Population 16 

Transportation Ig 

The Forest : 

Forested Condition and Distribution 21 



Page 
The Forest— Continued 

Forest Formations 23 

Forest Influences 36 

Commercial Aspects 39 

Forest Industries 44 

Forest Products 46 

Forest Problems 46 

Insular Forest Policy 61 

The Luquillo National Forest . . . fiS 
Appendices: 

I. Trees of Porto Rico 66 

n. BIbUography »8 



*»^ 







WASHINGTON 

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICB 

1916 



^"''^^T^/J/I 



D. of D. 
NOV 18 1916 



UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE 




BULLETIN No. 354 ,„,^,,„ 

^^jf ^- JjSi ^ Contribution from the Forest Service, '^^i^^'S/a^ 

.^^l^*^S^^ HENRY S. GRAVES, Forester J^<r^^*SU 




Washington, D. C. 



October 20, 1916 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO; PAST, PRESENT, AND 
FUTURE, AND THEIR PHYSICAL AND ECONOMIC 
ENVIRONMENT. 

By Louis S^ Murphy, Forest Examiner. 



CONTENTS. 



Page. 

Introduction 1 

Physical and economic features : 

Geograpliic situation 2 

Physiography and soils 3 

Drainage 7 

Climate 7 

Land distribution, utilization, and taxa- 
tion 9 

Population 16 

Transportation 18 

The Forest: 

Forested condition and distribution 21 



The Forest— Continued. 

Forest formations 23 

Forest influences 30 

Commercial aspects. .• 39 

Forest industries 44 

Forest products 46 

Forest problems 46 

Insular forest policy 51 

The I.uquillo National Forest 55 

Appendices: 

I. Trees of Porto Rico 56 

II. Bibliography 98 



INTRODUCTION. 

Every year the people of Porto Kico consume over three times as 
much wood as the forests of the island produce. Great quantities 
of timber have beeii cut or burned by the "conuco" to make a clear- 
ing, which is abandoned after a few years and becomes a mere waste. 
The charcoal burner is still at work destroying the young growth 
needed to keep up the forest. Failure to put an end to the destruc- 
tive practices that are rapidly reducing the forests or to provide the 
means of developing and fully utilizmg them in a scientific manner 
has already brought about a shortage in the domestic supply of wood 
and consequent hardship to the people. It is the object of this bulle- 
tin* to give a complete account of the trees and the forests of Porto 

• Tender an informal cooperative arrangement between the Secretary of the U. S. Department of Agri- 
culture and the Governor and Board of Commissioners of Agriculture of Porto Rico the author spent sLx 
months, from November, 1911, to May, 1912, on the island, making a first-hand study of its forest problems. 
A preliminary report of his findings and recommendations regarding these problems was published in the 
"First Report of the Board of Commissioners of Agriculture of Porto Rico," San Juan, Jan. 1, 1912, pp. 
48-60. In this report it was recommended that the authority of the board be extended to cover the man- 
agement of the forests; and that an insular forest service , with a qualified and experienced forester in charge, 
be established to carry on the work. This service could be established at a maximum cost of $20,000 and 
maintained for $8,000 or less a year, and would effect an annual gain to the island through the scientific 
management of its forests amounting to over $350,000. 
21871°— Bull. 354—16 1 



c^ 



BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 'X^Q. 



O 



\As 



Rico, to show their vahic to the people of the island, and to suggest 
the moans of improving them and making them permanent.^ 

PHYSICAL AND ECONOMIC FEATURES. 

Porto Rico is very sparsely wooded. The impenetrable forest 
jungles, commonly associated with the West Indies, are so scarce 
that one may cross and recross the island without seeing them, for, 
with the exception of those in the Sierra de Luquillo, they are tucked 
away in the more inaccessible places into which few except the 
"jibaro" ever penetrate. The island is, however, by no means 
devoid of wood growth. Around almost every habitation there are 
groups of trees, such as the bread fruit and mango; and numerous 
scattered single trees, mostly palms, dot the open landscape. The 
protective cover of shade trees of the coffee plantations gives a 
decidedly forested appearance to many localities. 

Porto Rico presents an unusual combination of physical and eco- 
nomic conditions. The insular and geograpliic position of the coun- 
try, its diminutive size, its restricted area of level lands, and its 
density of population, to mention but a few of many influences, have 
occasioned unusual demands on the forests. The same cycle of 
change is found here as is recorded by civilization everywhere — a 
profligate waste and despoliation of the bounties of nature, followed 
by an acute need for what has been destroyed. 

GEOGRAPHIC SITUATION. 

Porto Rico is the easternmost and smallest of the Greater Antilles 
and is well within the Tropics. It is situated between latitudes 17° 54' 
and 18° 30' north and longitude 65° 35' and 67° 15' west, occupying a 
position about midway in the cham of islands connecting Florida and 
Venezuela and separating the Carribean Sea from the Atlantic Ocean. 
It is about 450 miles east and slightly south of the nearest point of 
Cuba; about 500 miles north of the nearest point of Venezuela; about 
1,000 miles from Colon (Panama) ; about 1,500 miles from New York 
and New Orleans, and a little more than twice that distance from 
Gibraltar. 



1 In addition to new material the present bulletin revises and brings up to date two pre\aous bulletins 
of the Forest Service: "Notes on the Forest Conditions of Porto Rico," by Robert T. Hill. Bulletin 25, 
Division of Forestry, Department of Agriculture, 1899, and "The Luquillo Forest Reserve, Porto Rico," 
by John C. GifTord, Bulletin 54, Bureau of Forestry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1905. 

It is appropriate to acknowledge in this place the author's indebtedness to the works enumerated alwve 
and in the bibliography. Special acknowledgment is due to the officers and employees of the Insular 
Government and of the Porto Rico Agricultural Experiment Station (U. S. Dept. of Agriculture) for giv- 
ing the author access to official unpublished data and personal assistance in locating and getting to the 
various places \nsited; to Mr. Paul Buffault, Conservateur, Administration des Eaux et Forets, France, 
and Mr. Thomas R . Wallace , A merican consul at Fort de France , for valuable Information concerning forest 
conditions and legislation in Martinitiue (French West Indies); aKso to the Office of Acclimatization and 
Adaption of Crop Plants of the Bureau of Plant Industrj' , Department of Agriculture, for the use of photo- 
graphs comprising Plates I, IV, and VI, fig. 1. 



FORESTS OF PORTO EICO. 



Porto Rico has a total area of 3,435 square miles (2,198,400 acres).* 
The maiii island is 3,349 square miles in extent, and the islands of 
Vieques, Mona, Culebra, and other adjacent smaller islands witliin 
its governmental jurisdiction are 51.5, 19.5, 11, and 4 square miles, 
respectively. The territory as a whole is thus about five-sixths 
the size of Jamaica or the island of Hawaii, seven-tenths the size of 
Connecticut, and four times as large as Long Island. 

In general outline it is almost a geometrically regular parallelogram, 
approximately 100 miles long and 35 miles wide. Its longest dimen- 
sion lies east and west. The sea Ime is nearly straight and the coast 
is usually low, especially on the southern side, although there are a 
few headlands. The only protected harbors are San Juan on the 
north coast, Guanica and Jobos on the south, and Ensenada Honda on 
the southeast. The 

remaining ports, such connect/ cut 

as Arecibo, Mayaguoz, 
and Ponce, are scarcely 
more than open road- 
steads. 

PHYSIOGRAPHY AND SOILS. 

Porto Rico and the 
other islands of the 
Antilles and Central 
America and northern 
South America were 
formerly, according to 
geologists, a united and 
distinct continental 
land mass — the Antillean continent. Then came a great subsidence, 
which left only the tops of the mountains above water. After a while 
the ocean floor was agam thrust up, the old continent reappearing. 
The sediment of which it was composed, covered in the meantime 
by deep-sea muds and chalks, was then folded into huge mountain 
systems, individual peaks reaching as high as 20,000 feet above sea 
level. Another but lesser subsidence of the Antillean contment ac- 
complished its breaking up into the present island groups, Jamaica 
bemg the first to be isolated, then Cuba, and finally Porto Rico and 
Haiti. 

There are at the present time three main physiographic regions of 
the island of Porto Rico — a central mountainous core of volcanic 




Fig. 1.— Porto Rico compared in size with Connecticut and Long 
Island, New York. 



* "Areas of the United States, the States and Territories," Bulletin 302, U. S. Geological Survey. This 
area is the one officially determined upon by the U. S. Geological Survey, the General Land Office, and the 
Bureau of the Census, and is based on computation from the U. S. Coast Survey map. The detailed 
figures concerning the areas of the smaller islands were obtained directly from the Office of the U. S. Coast 
and Geodetic Survey. 



4 BULLETIN 304, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

origin, an elevated area of coral limestone (former marginal niarino 
deposits) surrounding the mountainous portion, and the coastal plain. 



CENTRAL MOUNTAIN AREA. 



The central mountain area occupies by far the largest portion of the 
island. Viewed from the sea it presents a rugged and serratt^d aspect; 
numerous peaks and summits, with no definite crest line, rise from a 
general mass, which has been cut by erosion into lateral ridges, sepa- 
rated by deep, steep-sided gorges. The drainage divide is approxi- 
mately parallel to the southern coast and about 10 or 15 mUes distant 
from it. The region thus has a long and relatively gentle inclination 
toward the north coast, but falls off rather abruptly toward the south. 

The Sierra de Luquillo,^ the most easterly of the three ranges making 
up the central mountain mass, is surrounded by low coastal plains, and 
is completely isolated, except for a low water-divide wliich crosses near 
Las Piedras to the Sierra de Cayey. By thus completely dominating 
the landscape it gams t*he appearance of being very liigh ; and one of 
its peaks, El Yunque (the anvil), has been credited with being the 
highest emmence on the island. According to the most recent 
determinations ^ this peak reaches an altitude of 1,062 meters (3,483 
feet). The east peak has an elevation of 1,054 meters (3,457 feet) 
and the west peak 1,020 meters (3,346 feet).^ These higher peaks are 
flanked by numerous lateral ridges which extend in every direction. 
The valleys, known as "quebrados," are deep and gorgclike and are 
separated one from another by very narrow, almost knife-edged 
ridges, "cuchillas." Falls, cascades, and rapids are conspicuous 
features of the dramage system here. This range supports the only 
large tract of virgin forest growth on the island. 

The remaining mountain mass forms an uninterrupted expanse of 
broken uplands. The main crest hne extends from Humacao on the east 
through Aibonito and Adjuntas to within a short distance of Maya- 
guez on the west coast. The portion east of Aibonito is known as the 
' ' Sierra de Cayey ; " that to the west, the ' ' CordUlera Central." This 
region has an average elevation of about 2,500 feet, above which the 
higher peaks project irregularly, a few to an elevation of more than 
3,500 feet. The thirteen highest peaks on the island are in the "Cor- 
dillera Central." The highest of these (not named on the Coast and 
Geodetic Survey chart) situated about due south of Jayuya, has an 

> Ilerrera (see lybliography) describes the Luquillo as follows: "Ten leagues East-South-East from the 
City of Puerto Rico is a very high and great Mountain, with three Breaks on it, call'd del Luquillo, or of 
the little Madman, on Account of a revolted Indian [that withdrew to it. The highest Point of it is 
call'd Eurzidi, a Name given by the Blacks, signifying a place always clouded, and the third is call'd of the 
Holy Ghost." 

'U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey Chart 920, issued July, 1910. 

3 These two together appear to be given the name " El Cacique " (The Indian Chief) by Gifford. De also 
names the round mountain to the west "El Toro" (The Bull), and the moimtaui next to it on the south 
"El Carnero" (The Sheep). 



Bui. 354, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate F„ 




Opening in Virgin Stand of Mixed Tropical Hardwoods. 
Near La Isolina (Arecibo). 



Rain-Forest Formation 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 5 

elevation of 1,341 meters (4,398 feet), while "Mt. Guilarte," com- 
monly considered second to El Yunque, is 1,204 meters (3,950 feet). 

The many lateral ridges which diverge from the central mountains, 
mostly from the north side, are commonly very steep-sided and nar- 
row-crested, and the valleys are deep, V-shaped, and almost devoid 
of level bottom land. Rock outcrop is generally infrequent, except 
toward the outer portion, wliere the ridges are often capped with hard 
limestone. 

The central mountains are composed largely of black or other dark- 
colored igneous rocks, which occur in the form of tuffs, conglomerates, 
silts, and an occasional dike of diorite. Their volcanic forms have 
been destroyed by erosion. The material thus worked over into sedi- 
ment in prehistoric ages now occurs in well-defined strata. Two rela- 
tively inconspicuous limestone formations also occur, one black, bi- 
tuminous, and shaly, and the other light gray and crystalline. 

As a result of the almost uninterrupted action of an abundant pre- 
cipitation, a high relative humidity, and a warm temperature, rock 
weathering at the higher elevations is more rapid than erosion, as 
shown by a soil mantle of unusual depth and almost no bare indurated 
rock here. The characteristic soOs are deep, reddish clay loams and 
tenacious red clays. So cohesive, unctuous, and compact are these 
soils that they are able to maintain themselves in an almost vertical 
position. Cultivation, in consequence, is in many places carried on 
to the very tops of the ridges and on the steepest slopes, yet evidence 
of excessive erosion and landslides is surprisingly inconspicuous. 
At the lower elevations the sandy character of the soil and the more 
common occurrence of outcrop show that the rate of rock erosion has 
exceeded that of weathering. 

THE CORAL LIMESTONE BELT. 

The belt of coral Hmestone is several miles wide in places and on its 
interior border overlaps the igneous rocks. This area is of sedimen- 
tary origin. Where rock solution has been the most active agent of 
decay, it retains the general form of a table-land. Wliere erosion 
has been the most active only isolated conical hills remain. In 
certain parts of the island the limestone extends directly to the 
water's edge, where it terminates in steep scarps, often 100 feet or 
more in height, notably on the south coast west of Ponce and on the 
north coast west of Quebradillas. Elsewhere on the island the rem- 
nants of this formation stand as steep, sloping, solitary mounds or 
domes, which rise singly or in chains above the coastal plain. 

Along the junction of the central mountains and the limestone belt 
is a distinct line of weakness marking the former shore line. Strong 
valley lines are developed there, separating the two physiographic 
regions. These ' ' parting valleys " are especially well developed on the 



G BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

south side of the island in the valley of the Guanajibos at Sabana 
Grande, and on the north side at the junction of the Don Alonso (or 
Linion) and Arecibo Rivers. 

An uninterrupted block of Hmestone formation, known in places as 
the Pepino Hills/ occurs along the north side of the island from Ciales 
nearly to Aguadilla, and is some 6 to 10 miles wide from north to 
south. It offers a marked contrast to the low rounded limestone 
hills which flank it to the north, because of its greater elevation, 
rough, angular topography, pitlike valleys, bare rock outcrops of 
chalky whiteness, and subterranean drainage. Wherever the large 
rivers, such as the Rio Grande de Arecibo and the Manati, cross this 
area they have cut deep canyonlike valleys whose sheer cliffs of con- 
siderable height occasionally rise directly from the water's edge. 
Otherwise the area is strikingly devoid of surface drainage features. 
The hills are very closely packed together, their connecting ridges 
hardly more than rocky septums separating the disconnected pitlike 
valleys. The steep-sided depressions show, on a tremendous scale, 
to what an enormous extent rock solution takes place under tropical 
conditions. 

The region, if viewed from above, would look hke a honeycomb. 
Not infrequently the "sinks" are 100 feet and occasionally 200 feet 
or more deep. The larger pits sometimes contain an acre or more of 
bottom w^th a very fertile soil, commonly under cultivation to such 
crops as coffee, bananas, and ground provisions. The bottoms of 
others are occupied by bogs or small lakes. The crags and summits 
are almost invariably wooded. Caves, which mark the early stages 
of pit formation, are common. 

Travel here is extremely difficult. Roads are out of the question 
and the trails are not numerous and are extremely rough. There is 
no alternative Ijut to cross the pits in succession, descending to the 
bottom of one and then climbing to the rim of the next almost 
straight down and straight up again. 

THE COASTAL PLAIN. 

The sandy ridge fronting the coast forms a barrier between the sea 
and a narrow low-lying area scarcely above tidewater level, and 
partly marine and partly alluvial in origin. On the north side of 
the island there are many swamps and lagoons covered with a thick 
growth of mangrove bushes. The most typical are the Cafio y 
Laguna de Tiburones between Arecibo and Barceloneta, Laguna del 
Tortuguero north and east of Manati, and the string of lagoons east 
of and cormected with the harbor of San Juan. On the south side, 



I The term "pepino" (cucumber) undoubtedly refers to the appearance of the elongated mammillary 
summits of the hills. An eciuaUy characteristic term, "cockpits," applied to a similar formation in Jamaica 
is descriptive of the valley bottoms. 



I 



FOEESTS OF POETO EICO. 7 

the mangrove is only slightly developed, but there are in places 
extensive saline plains too low and wet for cultivation, where rank 
grasses, a few scattered acacias, or low, succulent, salty herbs con- 
stitute the oply vegetation. 

The coastal plain proper is elevated but a few feet above the sea, 
and has but a slight gradient toward the mountains. It termmates 
rather abruptly at the foothills, except in the valleys of the larger 
rivers. These plains are entirely sedimentary, having been laid 
down when the island stood at a somewhat lower level than now. 

The coast-plain hills are isolated, low, and dome-shaped. Some 
have been nearly buried by the alluvial deposits of the rivers ; others 
rise 100 feet or more above the level of the plain. 

The soil, except on the hills, is largely a fine, rich alluvium, sandy 
in places, and is almost entirely under cultivation or in pasture. 

DRAINAGE. 

It would be difficult to find another country of its size so well 
watered as Porto Rico. Within the mountainous area are many 
swift-flowing streams which have cut for themselves deep, steep- 
sided valleys. In their upper courses they traverse steep, angular 
gorges, where numerous cascades and cataracts are to be found, par- 
ticularly in the Sierra de Luquillo. The peculiarity of the drainage 
system where it passes from the central mountain into the limestone 
region has already been described. Within the coastal plain the 
valleys are broad, with considerable areas of bottom land through 
whcih the rivers pursue a meandering course. The streams flowing 
liorth from the main divide are much more numerous and longer than 
those from the south side, and they likewise carry a much greater 
and more constant volume of water. The island is reported to have 
upward of 1,300 named streams, of which the Rio de la Plata is con- 
sidered the longest, about 45 miles. None of the rivers is naviga- 
ble, except for small boats, and then chiefly in their tidal reaches. 
They, nevertheless, are of tremendous importance as a source of 
domestic water supply, and their power possibiUties are also very 
considerable. 

CLIMATE. 



Though Porto Rico is well within the Tropics, it has an equable 
and comfortable climate, for the modifying influences of the ocean 
are accentuated by its position in the direct path of the North 
Atlantic trade winds. These counteract the enervating effect of the 
high temperature and humidity, the occasional periods of sultry and 
oppressive weather invariably occurring when they fail. They vary 
in direction from northeast to southeast, usually coming from east or 
east-southeast. Their average velocity from month to month is 



8 BULLETIN S'A, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

remarkably constant, rarely varying more than a mile from the 
annual average of 11 miles per hour, excepting in July, when the 
velocity rises to 13 miles, and in October and November, when it falls 
to 8 or 9 miles. 

Hurricanes whose centers pass over the island are rare; in the past 
40 years there have been but three, the most recent as weU as the 
most destructive being that of August 8, 1899. The recorded 
stonns of this character for the entire West Indies average about one 
a year and occur chiefly during the months of August, September, 
and October. 

TEMPERATURE. 

The temperature throughout the year is uniform. The records of 
the United States Weather Bureau for a period of more than 10 years 
show a combined average annual temperature for over 40 stations in 
the island of 76°; during the coolest months of winter the average 
is 73° and during the warmest months of summer 79°. The daily 
range is much more than the seasonal range; thus at San Juan the 
difference between the afternoon and early morning temperature is 
10° or 11° and at an inland station may be as much as 20° or 25°. 
In the afternoon the temperatures along the coast rise to an average 
of 84° in the winter months and to 89° in the summer months and in 
the early morning fall to 66° and 73°. In the hills and mountains of 
the interior the average daily maximum is about 81° in whiter and 
87° in summer, while the corresponding minima are 61° and 68°, 
respectively. 

The extremes of temperature recorded during the past 10 years do 
not differ greatly in different portions of the island. At the more 
elevated stations the maximum range is between 90° and 95° and 
along the coast and in the vaUeys 95° and 100°. The extreme maxi- 
mum has reached 100° only three times during the 10 years, at one 
time reaching 103°. The minimum temperatures range between 50° 
and 55° except for stations on the immediate coast, where the tem- 
perature seldom goes below 60°. The lowest recorded temperature 
is 43°, and it is probable that on the highest elevations it goes some- 
what lower. It is, however, extremely doubtful if it ever approaches 
very near to the frost line. 

RAINFALL. 

The average annual rainfall is much more variable than the 
temperature. The average for a 12-year period from 44 stations 
shows 77.30 mches; for the year 1901 it was 93.72, and for 1907 but 
64.18. The geographic distribution of rainfall shows a still wider 
variation. The heaviest is recorded in the Sierra de LuquiUo, which 
is exposed to the fuU sweep of the moisture-laden trade winds. Tlie 
average annual rainfall here exceeds 135 inches, with a maximum 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 9 

record in 1901 of 169 inches. There are two other well-defined areas 
where the average annual rainfall exceeds 100 inches, namely, the 
peaks about Adjuntas and the mountains surrounding Las Marias and 
Maricao, San Sebastian, and Lares, in the central and west-central 
portions, respectively, of the Cordillera Central. These centers of 
heavy precipitation are likewise centers of heavy forestation. Except 
for the Luquillos, the forests are artificial ones, being largely coffee 
plantations, yet their influence on climate is in all respects similar. 

While abundant rain and the absence of protracted droughts char- 
acterize conditions on the nortli side of the island, the reverse obtains 
to the south, where several months may elapse with little or no rain. 
Here precipitation is not only scanty but unevenly distributed through- 
out the year. The average annual rainfall for the stations along and 
near the south coast is 45 inches. The minimum average annual 
rainfall of 37 inches is recorded at Guanica, while 21 inches in 1907 is 
the absolute recorded minimum of recent years. 

The rainfall on the whole island increases from 11 inches in the 
winter months (February being the lightest) to 16 inches during the 
spring, 23 inches during the summer, and 26 inches during the fall. 
The maximum generally occurs in September on the east coast, in 
October along the south coast, and in November along the north coast. 
The rainfall is largely in the form of showers, which, although fre- 
quently very heavy, seldom last over 10 or 12 minutes. Rain for a 
day or more at a time is comparatively rare. 

Rain falls practically every day in the year over some portion of 
the island, except possibly a few days in February. For the island as 
a whole the average number of days in a year with rain is 169, the 
minimum and maximum frequency are 28 at Guanica on the south 
coast in 1907 and 341 in the Sierra de Luquillo in 1900, respectively. 
The average humidity for the island is about 78 per cent, the minimum 
in the driest month, 75 per cent, and the maximum in the most humid, 
81 per cent. 

land distribution, utilization, and taxation. 

Land Distribution. 

The land policy of Spain appears to have been conceived in a spirit 
of gi'eat liberahty. It not only provided for the usual extensive 
grants to the gi-andee and to the soldier of fortune, but also offered 
encouragement to the bona fide settler of small means. The first law,^ 
promulgated by Ferduiand V under date of June 18, 1513, a scant 
20 years after the discovery of America, granted settlers free title to 
holdings of something in excess of 170 acres, upon compliance with 

i"Law First" (See Recapitulation de Leyes de los Reinos de las Indias, Book 4th, Title 12th). 
Translation by Bureau of Insular Affairs, War Department. 



10 BULLETIN 354, U. S, DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

certain requirements concerning residence and cultivation, resembling 
very strikingly our own national homestead act, passed 350 years 
later. 

GOVERNMENT LANDS. 

By 1830 the Government had disposed of approximately half of the 
island, and between that time and the Spanish-American War had 
given away about nine-tenths of the remainder. The rest of the 
Cro%\ai lands, which, by the Ti'eaty of Paris, December 10, 1898, became 
the property of the United States, amoimt, as nearly as can be ascer- 
tained from the records,^ to 147,971 acres, of which 7,400 acres are 
classified as swamp land. Tliese lands, except a small amount 
reserved for Federal use, were ceded by act of Congress approved 
July 1, 1902, to the people of Porto Rico. Some 3,000 acres in addi- 
tion have reverted to the local government in defaidt of taxes. Thus 
the entire public domain, including Federal and insular lands, amounts 
to less than 151,000 acres. 

By far the greater part of this land lies in the mountains. Except 
for a few of the more accessible tracts, comparatively little is known 
about its present condition, or even its location, smce in only one or 
two instances has any survey or detailed examination been made. 
General information gathered in the vicinity of some of the larger 
tracts indicates that only a very small amount of this land supports a 
productive forest, except a tract in the Sierra de Luquillo. Tlie 
greater part is at present an idle, unproductive, grass or brush covered 
waste. In some few instances it is so situated as to be suitable for 
coffee culture, but in the aggregate it is of slight agricultural value, 
though it has a large potential value as forest land. 

PRIVATELY OWNED LANDS. 

Figure 2^ indicates for the years 1828, 1900, and 1912 the compara- 
tive areas of public lands and of private lands under cultivation to 
different crops, under pasture, and midcr forests. 

In 1828, while slightly over half of the island, was privately owned, 
scarcely more than 3 per cent was under cultivation. Agriculture 
was then carried on largely for the production of home staples. Thus 
plantains, Indian corn, and rice covered more than half, while the 
commercial agricultural staples of to-day, cane, coffee, and tobacco, 
together covered scarcely one-fourth of the whole cultivated area. 
Between 1828 and the end of the Spanish regime the area under culti- 
vation had increased to about 13 per cent. Nearly half of this was 
in coffee, and somewhat more than one-fifth of the remainder in cane. 

I See report of the Commissioner of the Interior for Porto Rico, 1909. 

2 Compiled from Fliiiter's "Porto Rico," containing the ofTicial returns for 182S, from Knapp's "ARri- 
cultural Resources and Capabilities of Porto Rico," and tlic summary of tax assessment (corrected to 
Aug. 10, 1912) in Report of the Govenior of Porto lUco, 1912. 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 



11 



fB28 

3.38% 



During the same period the area of so-called pasture land had more 
than doubled, so that it exceeded in extent all the other land classes 
combined, and privately owned forests 
had mcreased slightly. Private owner- 
ship was thus almost doubled, having 
absorbed nearly 05 per cent of the 
total land area. 

During the period of American occu- 
pation the cultivated area has nearly 
doubled, amounting m 1912 to 23.28 
per cent,^ Of this area cane covers a 
trifle more than two-fifths, coffee more 
than one-third; minor fruits about a 
fifth, and tobacco, coconuts, oranges, 
and pineapples, in the order named, 
the remainder. This agricultural ex- 
pansion has been carried on about 
equally at the expense of "pasture" 
and "timber and brush" lands. On 
account, however, of the much greater 
area of pasture lands, these were rela- 
tively little affected in the aggregate, 
while the forest lands were reduced 
nearly two-fifths. 

There is no information available 
showing the average-size holdings in 
the various classes of property or in 
what proportion the economically de- 
veloped lands are held in conjunc- 
tion with the waste and forested 
lands. The data upon which the dia- 
grams (fig. 3) are based most nearly 
approach this information by showing 
for the assessment area analyzed the 
proportion of the total, "by num- 
ber" and "by area" of the farms in 
certain acreage groups. 




"^otJ^ 



PUBLIC LAND tZm 



PRIVATE 
LAND 



CULTIVATED LAND 
Fk^ PASTURE 
\ [TIMBER AND BRUSH 



mmilD UNCLASSIFIED 
*■ (1912 ONLY)- 



Fig. 2.— Land in Porto Rico. The changes 
from public to private ownership and the 
main uses to which it is put. 



1 This figure differs from the one (56 per cent) given 
in the Register of Porto Rico for 1910, which also varies 
from the so-called ''improved area" (75.3 per cent) given 
by the Thirteenth Deceimial Census (1910). Both of these 
percentages have included in them a considerable area 
of so-called "pasture" land. The grass land in the 

low country might be considered "improved," because it is used part of the time as pasture and 
is then plowed up and put into cane, but it is impossible to conceive of more than one-fourth to one- 
half of the total of land classified as "pasture" as being thus alternately cropped and pastured. This 
would make the "improved" acreage aggregate 35 to 50 per cent of the total territorial domain. The 
remaining one-half to three-fourths of the land classed as " pasture ' ' could more properly be classed as waste 
land or "ruinate, "-as is done in Jamaica and elsewhere, because it serves no productive economic use. 



12 



BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



Wo find 91.34 per cent of all farms have an area less than 100 
acres each, wliich would indicate a wide popular distribution of the 
land in small holdings. But the average area per farm in this group 
is only 21.4 acres; so that by far the greater number of individual 
holdmgs must be much less than 20 acres.^ It is not surprising, 
therefore, that the remaining 8,GG per cent of the whole numl^er of 
farms covers 55 per cent of the total farm area, or that these farms 
have an average of about 280 acres per farm. 

With 93 per cent of the land in private ownership, the success of 
any reforestation work attempted by the Government will depend 
in a large measure upon the cooperation which can be secured from 
the private landowner. The conditions are the most unfavorable in 
the mountain region, where there is a considerable proportion of 



Acreage Groups . 

I to too Acres (9f.34-%) ^ 

/O/ to 200 Acres (S.02%) 

201 to500 Acres (/.63%) 

20 /to 500 Acres (l.l4-%) 

50lto/500Acres( .87%) 
and over 

Acreage Groups 
I to /GO Acres (44.72%) ^ 



-Number of Farms - Percent 
10 20 50 40 50 60 70 80 90 




10 



Area of Farms -Percent 

20 30 40 50 60 70 SO 



90 /GO 



fOI to 200 Acres (/6.26%} ^^ 
201 to500Acres(9.l9%) 
201 to400 Acres (5.56%) 



40/ to500Acres(4.67fo) ^ 



501 to/OOOAcres (/0. 27%) P 
/OO/ to l500Acres(4. 22%) ^ 
(5.09%)^ 



1501 and over 




Fig. 3.— Distribution of land ownership in Porto Rico by acreage groups and number and area of farms. 
From data compiled by bureau of property taxes, Government of Porto Rioo. 

small holdings, from which as a class very little cooperation can be 
expected. In addition to the small farms, there are a few coffee and 
tobacco plantations. Much of the land, however, is not even under 
smaU-farm cultivation. Vast stretches of it are nothing more than 
grass land, which is classed for assessment purposes as "pasture." 
In the coastal country the holdings are larger and offer better possi- 
bilities for cooperation. Many of the coast hiUs are already wooded, 
while others have been cleared for pasture. Here the need for forests 
on account of their protective influence on water and soil is not of 
importance, but the demand for wood is obviously urgent. Forests 
are needed in this particular section also as a refuge for birds, which 
are an important factor in controlling msect pests in the cane fields, 
besides beino; of esthetic value. 



1 According to the census of 1890, 51 per cent of all farms were less than 5 acres in extent, wliile the Thir- 
teenth Deceimial Census (1910) reports 72 per cent of all farms less than 19 acres in extent. 



■17 30 



ii==4^ 



5515 Or^/,S.„^r/ 



THE NOKRIS PETERS CO.. WASHINCTON. O. C. 




PORTO RICO 

AND CONTIGUOUS ISLANDS 
UNDER ITS JURISDICTION 



er THE //AR DEPARTMe 



C A R I B B E A 



.r,.ntE|.,„,„„rfp, 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 13 



Land Utilization. 



Porto Rico is essentially an agricultural country and wiU undoubt- 
edly continue as such. Of its commercial staple crops — sugar, 
coffee, and tobacco — only the first two are important competitors of 
the forest from an acreage point of view, tobacco occupying less 
than ] per cent of the insular area. Coffee cultivation is a most 
satisfactory form of agriculture for the steep mountain slopes where 
it is carried on and its replacement of the forest is usually justified, 
for it exerts many of the beneficial influences of the forest and few 
of the detrimental ones of the field crops. Sugar might be said to 
offer little economic competition with forests, because it usually 
occupies the more level and strictly agricultural soils. 

Cattle raising was early taken up, and there was formerly a very 
considerable export trade in live stock, hides, and tallow. The total 
live stock now on the island amounts to not more than 350,000 to 
400,000 head, and there is no export trade whatever. Cattle and 
horses make up nine- tenths of the stock (cattle alone three-fourths), 
the larger part of which is work stock. These are, to a considerable 
extent, used in the low country and are grazed in the 'pastures there. 
There seems, therefore, to be little economic justification for any 
longer retaining the bulk of the cleared uplands in pasture. Their 
partial or complete reforestation would add materially to the pro- 
ductive wealth of the island. 

It is in the cultivation of native ground provisions — rice, yams, 
and the like — that agriculture comes into closest contact with the 
forest. From time immemorial, not only in Porto Rico but through- 
out the Tropics the world over, the same primitive agricultural prac- 
tice has prevailed. Wherever it is in operation the "conuco," or by 
whatever other name ^ the method is Ivnown, is essentially the same. 
Upon the area which it is desired to cultivate all the trees are felled 
and set on fire. Sometimes the larger ones are killed by girdling 
and allowed to remain standing. Clearing is most apt to occur 
during the dry season, when conditions are most suitable both for 
burning and for planting the new crop. Little or no care is taken to 
control the fire and it often burns over a far greater area than is 
wanted for cultivation. The beans, rice, or other ground provisions 
are planted immediately following the burning, the ashes having 
enriched and sweetened the soil. Little or no cultivation is given 
the crop, and cropping seldom continues for more than 3 years. 
Eventually, as the fertility of the soil decreases and grass, weeds, 
and other volunteer growth get the upper hand, the area is aban- 
doned and a new clearing made. 

> What is known as the "conuco" in Porto Rico and other of the Spanish West Indies is known in the 
Philippines as caingin, in India variously as jhum, kumri, and khil, in Burma as juangya, and in Ceylon 
as chena or hena. The same practice is also reported from the Sudan, Central America, and many other 
parts of the Tropics. 



14 BULLKTIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

The best types of forest are invariably the on(\s first selected, 
because they give the richest ash and arc less difHcult to clear than 
areas of small, thorny growth. Thus for a meager crop of native 
provisions a vahial)le timber crop is destroyed, which it will require 
a generation and more to reproduce. 

Where the amount of available land is scarce an area may be 
successively cut over several times at intervjds, the parts cleared 
becoming naturally reforested again between cuttings. WTiere, how- 
ever, climatic, particularly moisture, conditions are not favorable it 
may be difficult or impossible for the forest to reestablish itself in 
competition with a grass cover. In such cases the succeeding forests 
may grade from a dense thorny growth through chaparral and low 
brush, or a very fragmentary scattered tree growth, to open savanna 
and even desert. It is almost certain that the vast and almost totally 
unproductive area of so-called pasture land in the central mountain 
section is the direct result of this practice, which is even now being 
extensively carried on in all its primitiveness. 

The total lack of property survey, lax title registration, and the 
free and unmolested operation of. the prescriptive right have made 
it easy for this devastating practice to thrive. Legislation can and 
ought promptly to be undertaken to eliminate these contributory 
causes. But the government must go farther. There must be a 
serious educational campaign combining, unifying, and extending 
the work of the public-school system, the agricultural experiment 
station, and any other agencies working for rural betterment, until 
there can be instilled into the mind of the "conuco " farmer a proper 
regard for the fimdamentals of economic agriculture, by which con- 
tinuous cultivation under a suitable rotation of crops will be substi- 
tuted for the present nomadic system. To give force and effect to 
that campaign the government must, of course, provide these people 
with the means of acquiring the land and other essentials to the 
practice of such improved agriculture. 

Taxation. 

The same archaic provisions are in force in Porto Rico for the taxa- 
tion of forest property as are to be found throughout the United 
States. The system of taxing the forest annually is unjust and dis- 
criminatory, encouraging forest destruction. In a country'- like Porto 
Eico, with practically no forest resources, it becomes proliibitory as 
well. Certainly few will elect to plant new forests or apply forestry 
to improve the productiveness of forests already there if by so doing 
they merely invite an increased assessment and taxes. The system, 
in fact, offers a distinct incentive to the owner to destroy what 
timber there is, so that there will remain but the bare land to tax. 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 15 

Under these circumstances the law should make it possible for the 
forest to bo classed as a crop. The growing of a forest is no less 
desirable to encourage than the growing of a crop of sugar cane, coffee, 
or tobacco; yet these latter are exempted entirely from taxation, 
while the forest is classed as an "immovable" and taxed annually 
at its full value. There is little wonder, under these circumstances, 
that no effort is made to practice forestry, which would inevitably 
increase the extent and value of the forest; or that the value of this 
class of property has decreased regularly from year to year, and for 
the fiscal year 1912-13 amounted, both timber and land together, to 
but 3.3 per cent of the total assessed value of all real property. 

The law should at least provide that the land and timber be classi- 
fied, assessed, and taxed independently of one another. The average 
forest crop requires several years, often decades, to mature. During 
tliis period it yields little or no revenue whatever. It is only fair to 
the producer of such a crop that his taxes be arranged to fall due in 
large part at the time when the crop matures and is sold. This, may 
be accomplished in one of three ways. If the owner pays throughout 
the entire period a tax based on the full productive value of the bare 
land, then the timber should be exempted entirely. At most it 
should be taxed but once — on its sale value as it stands in the forest 
in the year that it is cut. The rate in this case should be the same 
as that applied to all other real and personal property for that particu- 
lar year. A second method is to defer collecting any tax on the land 
until the timber is cut and then to take both the land and timber tax 
out of the sale value of the standing timber in that year. The rate 
in this case would, of course, have to be considerably higher than 
the general property tax rate and would properly be graduated accord- 
ing to the length of the period since the previous tax was paid. Ji. 
combination of these two methods, modified according to circum- 
stances, though less just to the landowner, would be at once an 
advance over the present plan and the most likely to be acceptable 
to the community. Thus an annual tax on the land would be levied 
either at the full general property rate on a nominal fixed value for 
the bare land or at half or other fractional part of the general prop- 
erty rate on the full productive value of the bare land. Then when 
the timber was cut, it, too, would be taxed, but at a rate corre- 
spondingly higher than the general property rate, say 10 per cent. 

Porto Rico is fortunate in that it has no constitutional obstacles to 
remove before it can proceed to a change. Neither the organic act 
nor any of the subsequent acts of Congress puts any specific restric- 
tions on taxation. It is only necessary, therefore, in order that this 
unjust discrimination against forests and forestry may be removed, 
to induce the legislative assembly to amend the present law. 



16 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

A docidotUy favorablo feature of the present taxation system of 
the island is its centralized organization. The insular government 
assumes the responsibility for the assessment and collection of all 
taxes, general and municipal, thus reducing the chances of inequali- 
ties being introduced between urban and rural properties, and be- 
tween similar classes of property in different muntcipalities. Until, 
however, there can be effected a complete caJjtstral survey of the 
island, makmg possible the enforcement of compulsory title regis- 
tration and the assessment of land values based thereon, any system 
of taxation, no matter how adequate, must, as now, be a dead letter 
in its real property provisions; and the present practice of "distrain- 
ing personal property for all taxes due and only proceeding on real 
property when no personal property exists" must continue. 

POPULATION. 

Porto Rico has had a steady increase in population since Columbus 
found 30,000 native Indians ^ on the island, except in the early years 
of settlement, when through confhct, disease, emigration, and slavery, 
the native population was rapidly reduced to a state approaching 
extinction. Although it was reported in 1543 that but 60 Indians 
remained on the island, it is probable that relatively pure Indian 
stock persisted in the mountainous sections up to comparativelj^ 
recent times.^ Here, too, the aboriginal type of feature is readily 
discernible to-day and the primitive method of "conuco" cultivation 
is most commonly encountered. 

Because of extensive slave importations almost from the beginning 
of settlement and the correspondingly slow colonization up to the 
middle of the eighteenth century, as late as 1820 the negro popu- 
lation outnumbered the white by 5 to 4. At present, however, the 
white race dominates all others by more than 7 to 4. Except for 
. Cuba, there is no other island in tlie West Indies where this condition 
is even closely approximated, all but two showing 10 per cent or less 
of white people. Porto Eico has also a smaller proportion of negro 
population than most of the southern seaboard States. 

The density of population in Porto Rico is phenomenal, particularly 
as there is a great preponderance of rural inhabitants. It is exceeded 
in but few of the other West Indies, is 1 per cent more than in China, 
and slightly more than in Japan. Porto Rico, with 325.5 persons per 
square mile (79.9 per cent rural), ranks fourth among the political 
subdivisions of the American territory,^ after Rhode Island with 
508, Massachusetts with 418.8, and New Jersey with 337.7. On the 

1 Fewkes, Jesse Walter, "The Aborigines of Porto Rico," 25th Annual Report, Buieau of Ethnology, 
1907. 

2 Flinter (see bibliography) remarks that there were in 1832 Indian families living m the niountamous 
interior. 

8 Thirteenth Decennial Census (1910), 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 



17 



basis of rural population alone, Porto Rico, with 260 country people 
per square mile, outnumbers its nearest competitor, New Jersey, by 
more than 3 to 1, and Rhode Island by 17 to 1. Furthermore, 
Porto Rico's rural population density alone outranks the total popu- 
lation density of any but the three States mentioned (fig. 5). 

The distribution of population in Porto Rico is remarkably even, 
and the centers of area and population are less than 5 miles apart 



tlOOM 

One 
Mi///on 

900M 

eoo*f 

700M 

600M 

SOOM 

400M 

JOOM 

BOOM 

ZOOM 
JOM 





























































/ 




























/ 


r 


























? y 


/ 


























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y 




























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V 


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p 


/ 


























<9 


^ 




1 


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o'k/'^ 


rtTTTnTf 


ill 














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y 




c4 


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<s 


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I49J ISIS /s-fo /eso /7SO /aoo /3/o so jo to so eo 70 eo so /soo /s/o 

LEGE AID 
\ \ Whif«Race f/gj^Shi^e (African Negro) ^^ B/ack (Negro Stock) 

^^Nat/ye /ndian ^^ Free (African Negro) WM^ /^u/atto (Mixed) 

Fig. 4. — Growth in population in Porto Rico. 

1. 1493. Island discovered by Columbus. Pre-Columbian population (Fewkes). 

2. 1508. First white settlement under Ponce de Leon. 

3- 1515. Indians imported from Jamaica and other West Indies in servitude (Fewkes). 

4. 1530. First numerical record concerning importation of African negroes (census 1899). 

6. 1543. Bishop of San Juan reported to the King of Spain but 60 native Indians remaining on the island 
(census 1899). 

6. Total population middle of seventeenth century, 880 (census 1899). 

7. Slavery abolished by act of the Spanish Revolutionary National Assembly, March 22, 1873. 

8. Census of 1877 adopted new classification dividing the colored population into "mulattoes" and 

"blacks," which it will be seen closely conforms to the earlier classes of "free" and "slave" 
(census 1899). 

in a direct line.^ The center of population lies to the north of the 
center of the island, because of the more equable climatic conditions, 
the greater area of arable land, and the location of the capital and 
largest city, San Juan, on the north side. 

' The center of area of the island is situated 3 miles north and 2.1 miles west of the town of Barros, and 
the center of population (1899) was 6.6 miles west and 2.4 miles north of the same town, making the two 
points distant from each other 6 miles east and west and 4.5 miles north and south. (Census of Porto 
Rico, 1899). 

21871°— Bull. 354—16 2 



18 



BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP' AGRICULTURE. 



Occupational statistics show that 33 per cent of the total popu- 
lation * are engaged in gainful occupations, and that 62.8 per cent 
of that number are engaged in "agriculture, fisheries, and mining," 
the two latter of which arc almost negligible.^ Almost three-fourths 
of the men and boys engaged in any gainful occupation are employed 
directly in agriculture. Literacy is a feature of population statistics 
which has changed so considerably since the American occupation 
that but little value attaches to the 1899 figures, which are the latest 
available. Some idea, however, can be gained by a comparison of 
the school attendance, which has increased from between 2 and 3 per 



STAK NAMIS IN mt 0/)D£» I 
O^rHSIfl TOTAL OS/VS/ry\POPL/LAr/CW 
tiJ OF POPULATION \PCR SQ MIL£ 



pe^csArr 

OP fKltfAL 
POPULATION O 



til 



III 




/ PflOOS ISLAND. SOa.S. J.JTo... 

2 A4ASSACPUSCTTS -^/a.S 7.2%. .. 

3 f/eifjcffsey. JJ7.7 ^■*.ax... 

4,POfiTO R/CO J2S.S 79.6%.. 

s covN^cr/ccir.*. ^J/.J fO.3%.... 

^^^6 NE^YORK 131 .2 2/.ZZ... 

7 P£NniSrLVA/V/A jr/.O .....33.6%... 

a MAKYLAND.*. /JO J. -^a.ax 

9 OHIO //7.0 <4. /%.... 

10 OeL/HVARC _./OJ.O. S2.0%.... 

11 TLLINOIS.^ /OO.e. JS.JZ.... 

'l3 /fCNTLICKy S7.0 7S.7% 

/4 r/TNNESSEE. Se."*-. 7S.SX 

/S y/fiGINIA ^S/.Z. 77.0Z.... 

/6 wesT y/PoiNiAf*. .so.e. e/.37,..„ 

17 SOUTH carolinaT'. •**. 7. _ as.z%.... 

21 NOfiTH CAROLINA 4S.J. as.6% 

^2 6£0ff6iA. .-^-^.^t eo 07„.... 

A« ALABAMA ..•*/. 7. 62.7%.... 

ZS /OtfA.. 4<3.0. 70.07„..., 

27 Mississipp/. je.a. ee.s% 

2B ■lOUI.S/ANA 36.S. .70.0Z.... 

29 APHANSAS.*.. 30.0. 67. /7<, 

■S3 OHLAHOMA* ..23.9. <90.7-% 

3* KANSAsf: .....20.7. 7o.az.... 

36 AieBPASffA?* IS.S 733%.... 

37 CALirOPNIA?. /S.3. 3a.2Z.... 

3a TEX.AS /-f-.e 7S.3Z-- 

3TATSS MAP/r£0 THUS 9 CL05£Lr APPPO)flMArC POPTO PICO IN TN£ Nt/MBCP OP T//£IP PUPAL POPl/LPTIOAf 
CTATCS MPPK£0 r»US » HAY£ SPOS3 POPULATIONS £J(C££OINB TNAT OP PVPTO P/CO ST L£SS THAAI 36 % 



FiQ. 5.— Comparative density of populations, showing graphically the relative position of Porto Rico and 

certain sekcted States. 

cent of the total population during the year following the close of 
the Spanish- American War to 14.4 per cent in 1912.^ In 1899, of the 
total population over 10 years of age, only 16.6 percent could read. 

TRANSPORTATION. 

The mountainous character of the island, the heavy and unctuous 
qualities of the soil, and the excessive rainfall conspire to render road 
building both expensive and difficult, so that until comparatively 

» Thlslow percentage of persons engaged in gainful oecupationsis occasioned largely liy the abnonnally 
large number of women and of children under 10 years of age, most of whom are enumerated in the 
dependen t class. Thus 30.9 per cent of the total population are children under 10 years of age, and 43.9 per 
cent under 15 years. (Census, 1899). 
' 2 The census of 1899 showed but 155 fishermen and 48 miners or quarrymen on the entire island. 

» Report of the Commissioner of Education (Annual Reports, War Department, fiscal year ending June 
30, 1912, Report of the Governor of Porto Rico). 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. ~ 19 

recently roads and other means of travel in Porto Rico have been 
poor. This confined early settlement and development to the sea- 
board and delayed the opening up of the interior. Then, too, the 
products of one section have not been sufficiently different from those 
in another to sustain an intra-island trade either by land or water. 
These circumstances and the system of trading which flourished 
between the West Indies, Europe, and America until recent times 
made the ports of the south coast, for instance, each commercially 
closer to Bilboa and Cadiz and to the world ports in general than to 
San Juan or each other. San Juan in particular, being formerly the 
last port of call on the voyage to the Old World from Gulf and Carib- 
bean ports, often found it easier to get tunbers and other natural 
products from Santo Domingo than from the immediately adjacent 
country or a neighboring Porto Rican port. The fact that for over 
a century Santo Domingan timbers have been in common use in San 
Juan has led to the belief that Porto Rico was never well timbered or 
that what large material there was soon became exhausted, whereas 
the lack of adequate internal transportation facilities offers a more 
likely explanation.* 

Tliis paucity of transportation faciUties persisted until well past 
the middle of the last century.^ The famous mihtary road, the main 
artery of the projected plan for liighways under Spanish sovereignty, 
was commenced about 1842 and finally completed in 1888, with a 
total length of 134 kilometers (about 84 miles). The remaining 
mileage of improved roads, which aggregated 275 kilometers (about 
175 miles) at the close of the Spanish regime in 1898, largely com- 
prised isolated sections of several road projects. From the Ameri- 
can occupation to June 30, 1912, 794 kilometers (500 miles) of mac- 
adam road have been constructed, making a total of 1,069 kilometers 
(670 miles). These are largely trunk-Une roads, from which extend 
many dirt roads suitable for the bull cart and hke veliicles, while 
beyond these are mountain trails where pack and saddle horses and 
the land canoe, or flat-bottomed dugout hauled by oxen, are still 
the only means of transportation. 

It is usually only rough mountain trails that reach the "conuco" 
farmer, the forested area, and many of the coffee plantations. These 
trails are mostly in very bad condition. Absolutely without drainage, 

1 One can see the effects of similar conditions in operation to-day in Santo Domingo. With.85 per cent 
of her land area under virgin forests, a sixth of which is pine, Santo Domingo imported from the United 
States in 1911 forest products to the amount of $130,800, including 3,937,000 board feet of lumber, valued at 
891,296, and shooksand other unmanufactured timber products, exclusive of naval stores, valued at $12,206 
additional. 

2 Robin (see bibliography) in 1802-1S06 testifies not only to the poor transportation facilities, but to the 
abundant forests, in the following reference: "The island of Porto Rico is still little inhabited, in spite 
of the earliness of its settlement. * * * The habitations, isolated and dispersed over the island, lack 
communication with one another. * * * It is, however, not necessary (in order to provide roads) to 
cut the mountains, raise the valleys, or fill the marshes, but simply cut down the large and vigorous 
trees." 



20 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DKPAKTMENT OF AUIUCULTUKE. 

the tenacious clay soil, ali'eady satiiraLed with moisture, has kneaded 
into it additional water tlu'ough the travel of tlie l)uUs and heavily 
burdened pack animals until in places it becomes a semifluid mass 
resembUng thick orange-red paint, often of a depth reacliing to a 
horse's beUy. During the dry season, when they dry out on top 
and crust over, these "baches" are even more treacherous than in 
their semifluid state, for when a horse breaks tlirough the crust he 
is the more hable to get mired. Only horses bred to tliis kind of 
travel know how to handle themselves under such trying conditions. 

For draft purposes in this back country the bull is ahnost exclu- 
sively used. Most of the freighting across the island and into the 
interior is even now, and on the best roads, done by bull carts, except 
for a short line of railroad between Rio Piedras and Caguas. Very 
recently the auto truck and auto stage have been tried in the cross- 
the-island freight and passenger service, as well as along the coast, 
and their use unquestionably will be extended. 

At the time of the American occupation there were 254 kilometers 
(about 160 miles) of narrow-gauge raikoadin operation in the coastal 
portion of the island. At the present time (1912) it is possible, 
through the connections estabhshed between the various sugar com- 
panies' railroads and the original pubhc-service road, almost to en- 
circle the island by rail. 

THE FOREST. 

The forests of Porto Rico are now so fragmentary and so limited 
in extent and have been so materially modified by the acts of man 
during several centm'ics that they afford of themselves Httle basis 
for classification and description. Clearings, severe cuttings, and the 
culhng of the more desirable timbers were noted by the earhest trav- 
elers. Then, too, many native species have been transplanted from 
their natm'al haunts to others and many introduced species have 
been brought in and spread over the island. It has consequently 
been necessary to draw extensively on information from a num- 
ber of sources and to study the various formations as they have been 
described in their undisturbed natural state in whatever other part 
of the Tropics they could be found. In this manner only could a 
groundwork be obtained for classifying and distributing according 
to their proper relations the remnants of the once extensive Porto 
Rican forests.^ 

1 In describing the fundamental features of the various formations the works of Schimper and of Broun 
particularly have been freely drawn on, and in reference to special features those of Harshberger, of Fer- 
now, and Taylor, and of Woodward (see Bibliography), not to mention the various historical works which 
have contributed side lights on matters of general distribution. 

The work of defining the distribution of formations is a comparatively simple one, because of their close 
relation to the distribution of rainfall, which latter has been carefully charted by the local Weather Bureau 



Bui. 354, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate II. 




F-I9766A 

Fig. 1 .—An Unimproved Country Road Through the Lowlands. 




FiQ. 2.— Native Means of Transportation which Requires no Roads. 
COUNTRY ROAD AND NATIVE TRANSPORTATION. 



FORESTS OP PORTO RICO. 21 

FORESTED CONDITION AND DISTRIBUTION. 

There can be little doubt that Porto Rico was at one time forested 
from the shores of the Atlantic to the Caribbean, from the Virgin 
Passage to Mona.^ Historians, wliile in general silent as to the 
extent and character of the forests on the island, have in the aggre- 
gate left a considerable collection of data concerning the subject,^ 
sufficient it would seem, together with present-day indications, to 
bear out the contention of a once completely forested Porto Rico. 

One has but to turn to the neighboring islands of the Greater 
Antilles, which are closely related both geologically and botanically, 
if further corroboration of Porto Rico's original forested condition is 
required. This close relationship and similarity even down to such 
details as common names is strikingly brought out by a comparison 
of the description by Fernow and Taylor ^ of the Sierra Maestra in 
Cuba, by Woodward,^ of the Santo Domingo forests, and by Gifford,^ 

office. Slight departures only are necessary to make allowance in certain cases for the influence of the 
limestone soils. Altitudinal differences are so slight as to have comparatively little effect. 

In the descriptions local names, wherever possible, have been adhered to, and following each such 
name is a number in parentheses, thus, guaraguao (74), which number refers to the specific description 
in Appendix I, "The Trees of Porto Rico." 

Whenever desirable, a brief paragraph in small print concerning the chief features of the same or a 
closely related formation in other parts of the Tropics follows the description of the local Porto Rican 
formation. Thus it is hoped that interest in the forest will be heightened through comparison and that 
the Way may be opened for the judicious selection of new species to be introduced into Porto Rico. 

1 The following from a letter from Mr. Alex. Wetmore, assistant biologist, Bureau of the Biological Survey, 
U. S. Department of Agriculture, who recently completed an exhaustive study of the bird life of the island, 
is of considerable interest in this connection: "On examining the endemic species of Porto Rican birds, 
I find that with one or two exceptions they are forest-inhabiting forms, pointing thus to a very extensive 
forest area on the island. The forms as differentiated here must have inhabited such an area during the 
period of evolution, and species with a preference for open savannas may have come in later, or may have 
been very few in number until within historical times. The extensive area of moist deciduous and tropical 
rain forests shown by you on the forest-distribution map, all point to this hypothesis." 

2 Oviedo, writing of the early years of 1500 concerning animals, trees, and the like m Porto Rico, stated 
that they did not differ from those already described in the "Isla Espanola." The North American and 
West Indian Gazetteer (1778) states that "the sides of the hills are covered with trees of various kinds, 
proper for building ships and other useful purposes." Fray Ifligo (1788), besides mentioning the superior 
and much greater variety of timber trees in the uplands, also states that many trees are foimd in the southern 
part of the island as well, although conditions there were much more arid and less fertile than on the north 
coast. In the accomit of the capture of San Juan by the Earl of Cumberland (1597), the small island on 
which San Juan is situated is deseril)ed as "for the most woods." Continuing, the Luquillo region and 
the interior generally are described as follows: "The valleys are much wooded but in very many places 
interlaced with goodly large Playnes and spacious Lawnes. The woods are not only underlings but 
timber trees of goodly tallnesse and stature, fit for the building of ships and of every part of them." Accord- 
ing to Herrera, (English translation, 1726), "The Island * * * has much good pasture for cattle, 
which decreases, by reason of the great numbej of trees increasing * * * go that the Island is over- 
grown with Woods." Flinter (1834), speaking of the surroundings of Guayama, says that 5 or 6 years 
previously it was merely "an immense tract of woodland." He also says: "The forests which cover the 
mountains of Porto Rico are filled with timber of the best quality for the construction of ships and houses. 
In some parts of the coast from the very improvident manner in which wood has been cut down and burned 
for charcoal and much left to rot on the ground, timber is getting scarce; but in the interior there is yet 
an abundance of superior timber." In 1830 timber to the value of $21,000 was exported through 
the customhouses of this island, exclusively of what is shipped clandestinely." This work in particular 
has numerous other references to the extent and luxuriance of the forest growth on the island. Finally 
Barrett (1902) tells us that "more than half a century ago the Spanish planters of the island began clearing 
the interior districts for coffee and tobacco culture. There being no good roads and but little demand for 
timber, the trees were burned where they fell; hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of lumber and 
cabinet woods were thus destroyed." 

8 See Bibliography. 



22 



BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



of the Lu(juill(). The forests of Porto Rico differ from those of the 
other islands chiefly in the absence of any pine growth. Santo 
Domingo, now least changed from its original pre-Colum])ian con- 
dition, still has fully 85 per cent of its land area uiider virgin forest. 
Prohably at least 50 per cent of Cuba is wooded, not far from 30 per 
cent being virgin forest. Santo Domingo has a population density 
of 33 per square mile, Cuba 46, and Porto Rico 325. There is little 
wonder that Porto Rico is nearly deforested. 

The assertion of a completely forested Porto Rico does not mean 
that there were no open lands at the time of Columbus's first visit. 
There were in fact even then more or less extensive clearings surround- 
ing each native village. These clearings were continued and extended 
by the wliite settlers that they might cultivate sugar cane, ginger, 




fOUeST CLASSinCAT/O/l/ BASSO O/V Mi*f Of M£A/^ A/VA(JAL /tA/A/r/ILL O'STft/gt/T/OM 
fO/t fOSS -/.SOS /^CCOfD/ffG TO CS WeATHF/l BUItSAU 



t'ndictre iffsfr/iHjfion 
of r 3/1*/*// /^ thc/ieA. 



\ i'rroyrMC »'oo^^^^s ['g;^^'^r^gXf ^^ooOLyijyos } &% 

V77A *'0'sr c£C/ooous rof?£srs 7 % ^uV/ln'/ei'?"'' ""' 

V////A Tf/OP/CAi. /fA/A/ fOifSSrS 6Z % 

^\\\1 o^r osc/ouoi/s fo/f£.srs 23 % 

Fig. 6.— Porto Rico. Pre-Columbian distribution of forest formations. (Diagrammatically sho%vn.) 

and other crops, and provide pasture for cattle brought from Spain. 
The clearing proceeded more rapidly on the north than on the south 
side of the island and was hkewise confined for the most part to the 
lowland. Until nearly the middle of the nineteenth century the 
interior mountain forests were probably but little disturbed. The 
gradual ascendency of the coffee industry over tliat of sugar and 
tobacco, which culminated during the closing years of Spanish rule, 
undoubtedly strongly influenced the development of the interior. 

Of the once extensive virgin tropical forest there now remain only 
isolated remnants scattered over the island in its most mountainous 
parts. The best known and most famous of these, and the largest 
as well, still covers a considerable portion of the Luquillo Range. 
Wliile it has for upward of half a century been gradually encroached 
upon, progress has been slow. The abruptness of the slopes and the 
size of the trees have made timber exploitation by native methods 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 23 

very difficult. Exposure to excessive and constant strong winds, 
abnormally heavy precipitation, and extended cloudiness have pre- 
vented the region from being invaded to a greater extent by the 
coffee planter. These same conditions also have doubtless not been 
entirely to the liking of the ''conuco" farmer, at least so long as there 
were other lands available. This tract has an aggregate acreage of 
between 35,000 and 40,000 acres, including several thousand ac^es of 
low gnarled growth on its summits and wind-swept slopes. A part 
at least of this forested area is in government ownership. 

Other tracts, more or less limited in extent, of virgin or only lightly 
culled high forest are to be found near Maricao, in a deep ravine at 
the headwaters of the Rio Maricao, near Jayuya, on Mount Morales 
and Mount Mandios;' near "La Isolina" on the Rio Limon between 
Utuado and Ciales,^ and in Barrio Angeles between Lares and Utuado 
on the Rio Angeles.^ The aggregate of all such areas, aside from the 
Luquillo, is beUeved to be well within 5,000 acres, making the total 
area of high forest scarcely 2 per cent of the total land area. 

There are besides about 400,000 acres assessed as "timber and 
brush lands_" and a few thousand acres additional classified as 
swamps and largely under mangrove. Of the timber and brush 
areas the bulk will be found in the southern, southeastern, and south- 
western parts of the island, on the dry limestone hills and other land 
of little or no agricultural value. On the north side such areas will 
be found almost exclusively on the thin-soiled, conical limestone 
hiUs. 

Thus, including virgin forests and all, the total wooded area 
amounts to approximately 20 per cent of the total land area. In aU 
probability not more than from one-fourth to two-fifths of this area 
(5 to 8 per cent of total land area) is now under forest capable of 
yielding a wood product other than charcoal and fuel wood. If now 
there be added the 168,000 acres in coffee plantations and the 6,500 
acres under coconut palms which are in effect artificial forests, the 
grand total of all lands under a forest or brush cover will approximate 
600,000 acres, or 27 per cent of the insular domain. 

FOREST FORMATIONS. 

The term "virgin forest" was formerly applied by travelers in 
the Tropics exclusively to the evergreen forest found in constantly 
humid regions or those of similar luxuriance along the watercourses; 
in other words, to the tropical forest jungle. Not only are these not 

1 Reported by N. L. Britton in Journal N. Y. Botanical Garden, May, 1906. 

* Reported to the writer personally by the director of the U. S. Weather Bureau at San Juan and by 
L. M. Underwood in Journal N. Y. Botanical Garden, Nov., 1901. 
' Reported personally to the writer by the lieutenant ol police at Utuado. 



24 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

the only virgin forests in the Tropics, but in many cases they them- 
selves may not be virgin at aU, but second growth.^ 

Because the rain-forest — the jungle — presents not only unusual but 
often spectacular features which make a most direct appeal to the 
interest and a most lasting impression on the mind, it has come to 
typify the tropical forest in general. Yet it would be scarcely less 
misleading to represent the mammoth redwoods or the giant fir and 
cedar forests of our Pacific coast, or even the magnificently diversified 
hardwood forests of the Appalachian region, as being the typical 
and prevailing forest growth of temperate North America. 

In its original forested condition Porto Rico undoubtedly pre- 
sented a diversity of forest formations unexcelled in any other 
similar area in the West Indian Tropics. Of the general types found 
throughout the Tropics, only those were impossible of occurrence 
which result from extremes of altitude and of drought. Thus alpine 
and desert elements were unquestionably never developed here. 
The various formations in the order of their occurrence from the 
coast toward the interior are as foUows: Littoral woodlands, moist 
deciduous forests,^ and tropical rain-forests on the north or humid 
side, and the dry deciduous forest ^ on the south or semiarid side. 

The distribution of these formations was, of course, not so simple 
as might be imphed by the last sentence, there being more or less 
overlapping. Remnants of these formations are, with few excep- 
tions, still to be found in the out-of-the-way places of the island, 
although their original balance and relative importance have been 
very much modified.* 

1 This is very interestingly brought out in Cook's "Vegetation Afleeted by Agriculture in Central 
America" (Bureau of Plant Industry Bulletin 145), from which the following is quoted: "Many localities 
which are now occupied by apparently virgin forests are shown by archaeological remains to be regions of 
reforestation. Thus in the Senahu-Cahabon district of Alta Vera Paz, relics of two or tliree very different 
types of primitive civilizations indicate that as many ancient populations have occupied successively the 
same areas which are now being cleared anew by the coffee planters as though for the first time. 

" It does not yet appear that any considerable region of forest has been explored in Central America 
without finding similar evidence that the present forests are not truly virgin growth. * * *" 

And again, speaking of the evidence of antiquity as exemplified by the crumbling of large earthenware 
pots of an earlier civilization, he continues: " We can not know how long it has taken the pottery tocrumble, 
but we can at least contrast the condition of these decayed pots with other pieces of pottery placed in caves 
of the same district in later prehistoric ages, which will appear fresh and new, as though recently burned. 
And yet the bones beside these apparently new pots have also crumbled nearly to dust, and there has 
been time for the surrounding country to be occupied with old forests of hardwood trees, like true virgin 
growth." He also mentions terracing of the land as showing that agricultuie was formerly extensively 
practiced and notes the presence of a type of terrace evidently designed "to hold drainage water and 
prevent erosion * * * being frequently met with in the heavily forested region of eastern Guatemala." 

a Called "monsoon forest" by Schimper. 

3 Also called " thorn- woodland " by Schimper and "chaparral" by Harshberger. 

* The natural balance and relative importance of the different formations as given by Woodward for 
Santo Domingo on a percentage basis for the total forested area is as follows: Wet hardwood type (which 
includes the "moist deciduous" and "tropical rain" forests of the above classification), 58 per cent; dry 
hardwood type ("lit.oral woodlands" and "dry deciduous" forests), 28 per cent; pine type (lacking 
entirely in Porto Rico, but occurring on a similar site to the "dry deciduous" forest), 14 per cent. 



Bui. 354, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate III. 




FORESTS OP PORTO RICO. 25 

Littoral Woodlands. 

The littoral woodlands, although most characteristically developed 
on the humid side of the island, have certain strong resemblances to 
the dry deciduous forests of the south coast, the one merging into, 
giving way to, or overlapping the other at their points of contact. 
Both formations are forced to struggle continually against the effects 
of drought. In the case of the littoral woodlands this is occasioned 
largely by porous and saline soil conditions accentuated by certain 
adverse climatic factors, strong wind particularly. With the dry 
deciduous forests, the determining factor is deficient rainfall, to 
which adverse soil conditions give added effect. The littoral wood- 
land formation presents two "distinct types, namely, the mangrove 
or wet tidal woodlands below high-water mark and the dry tidal 
woodlands above high-water mark. 

THE MANGROVE. 

The mangrove, or wet tidal woodland, is a distinctly tropical for- 
mation. Though unable to withstand unbroken wave action on the 
open coast, it readily establishes itself in the shallow brackish waters 
of protected embayments, creeks, and lagoons, where, under favorable 
climatic conditions, it forms dense, almost impenetrable thickets. 
The Porto Rican mangrove rarely attains a height of over 10 feet 
above the water, though elsewhere it reaches very respectable forest 
dimensions. Even in the more or less protected lagoons it is gen- 
erally exposed to the strong trade winds, which accounts in part for its 
low stature, while its popularity for fuel and other uses undoubtedly 
prevents it from attaining its full size. 

The sea, receding at low tide as far as the edge of what seems at 
high tide a veritable forest rising from the waters, reveals a tangled 
mass of stiltlike roots anchoring the trees to the blue-black muck 
along the shore. With every tide new soil material is deposited 
among the mangrove, which keeps gradually pushing out to occupy 
new ground, through its remarkable mode of reproduction". The 
fruit when it reaches maturity remains attached to the parent plant, 
the seed embryo all the while continuing its development into a 
new young plant. Having attained a certain size this plant releases 
itself, falls into the soft mud, strikes root, and becomes firmly fixed 
within a few hours. 

The mangrove in general attains its most favorable development 
where the humidity is high, precipitation abundant, and an inter- 
mittent cloudiness prevails. Its distribution accordingly coincides 
in general with that of the rain-forest.* Thus the mangrove in Porto 
Rico is most abundant along the north and east coasts, is much more 
restricted on the west coast, and is only sparingly and locally de- 

• See Schimper's Plant Geography. 



20 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

volopod on tho south. Hero it occurs cliiefly at the mouths of the 
larger rivers, where a dihitiou of the sea water enables it to grow 
ill spite of tho otherwise unfavorable climatic conditions. 

Three of the four common species of tho westeni mangrove/ of 
tropical American and West African coasts, occur in Porto Rico. 
One is k3lo^\^l locally as mangle Colorado (122),^ and the other two 
as majiglo bianco (or bobo) (127 and 157). Mangle Colorado occupies 
the outer exposed edge of the formation, while mangle bianco occur, 
the one (Avicennia) intermediately and the other (Laguncularia) at 
the inner boundary. The latter often forms pure mangrove. Other 
species associated with this formation are mangle boton (125) and 
mangle prieto (unidentified), small trees, usually under 20 feet in 
height. On drier islets within the formation other species may occur, 
and likewise on the inner side, where by a gradual transition the man- 
grove gives way to the dry tidal woodlands. Epiphytes, so charac- 
teristic of other tropical forest formations, are scarce and are con- 
fhied to a few bromehads and lichens. 

The mangrove is of considerable economic importance, furnishing 
fuel, especially to the bakeries, from its limbs and branches, and posts 
and house pihng from the submerged parts. For these latter uses it 
is very highly prized because of its resistance to decay and to the 
attack of the white ant. The bark contains a tanning material and 
a dye, though to what extent it is used locally is not known. 

Practically all of this mangrove land belongs to the insular govern- 
ment. In a few places, as in parts of San Juan Harbor, the mangrove 
will have to be cleared away to make room for needed water-front 
improvements. Other tracts might perhaps bo converted into arable 
land by drainage. Most of these lands, however, should be retained 
by the government and managed under approved forestry principles 
as public wood reserves.^ They would constitute a most valuable 

'The fourth species, Avicennia tomentosa Jacq., is not identified from Porto Rico. The eastern man- 
grove is much richer in forms. Thus in Farther India and the Malay Archipelago, where it shows its 
greatest diversity, it consists of Rhizophoraceae (9 species), Lythraoerc (3 species), Combretacese, Meliaceae, 
and VerbenaceK (2 species each), MyrisinaceEe, Rubiaceae, Anthracesp, and Palmae (1 species each); 22 
species in all, according to Schimper. 

2 The figures in parenthesis refer to the descriptive list (Appendix I). 

« In many eastern tropical countries the immense value of these swamp areas is now fully appreciated. 
In the Federated Malay States the mangrove is classed as " one of tbe two important divisions of the com- 
mercial Malay forests." In 1904 the development of tho mangrove areas as a soiu-ce of fuel supply for the 
Government railways and for general public consumption was begim imder sytematically prepared working 
plans. (Burns-Murdock, A. M. "Notes from the Federated Malay Stales," Indian Forester, Vol. XXX, 
No. 10, Oct., 1904). 

In the Philippines the mangrove is regarded as "in many respects one of tho most valuable forest assets 
of the islands." The bureau is now engaged in selecting the most important commercial areas and thor- 
oughly investigating their poss)1)ilities. (Director of Forestry of the Philippine Islands, annual report 
for fiscal year ending June 30, 1912). 

The mangrove is managed on a short rotation under a clean-cutting system, making it a simple crop 
to handle. As practiced by the Philippine natives in growing "bacauan" (includes several mangrove 
species) for cordwood, the seed is collected and sown at a cost of about S2.50 an acre. Then without any 
further attention the crop at the end of six years is ripe to cut, and l)rings as high as S20 an acre on the 
stump, according to W. D. Sterrett, formerly forester of Bataan Province, Philippine Bureau of Forestry. 



FORESTS OP PORTO RICO. 27 

source of cheap wood supply for general use, where it is most needed, 
in and around the coast cities, and would yield a considerable income 
to the government through the sale of the wood and other products. 

Dry Tidal Woodlands. 

The dry tidal woodland is confined to the sandy or gravelly soil 
areas skirting the open shore or lying directly behind the mangrove 
type in the sheltered embayments. While its former extent and 
distribution can be reasonably well defined, its original composition 
can only vaguely be surmised. Its sole representatives at the present 
time are groves of coconut palm; the dry deciduous forests of more 
or less strongly modified composition, due to the intermingling of 
typical shore species such as uvero (14) and others; and the open 
shrub growths of these latter species alone.* The coconut palm type 
will be considered in more detail elsewhere as will also the dry decid- 
uous forests. 

EASTERN LITTORAL WOODLANDS. 

The littoral woodland is readily distinguishable in the East Indies and adjacent 
continental areas, where it has been more or less carefully studied and described, par- 
ticularly in Java. At present two of the most conspicuous trees planted in and around 
San Juan are from this formation, the almendra (123) and the more recently intro- 
duced Casuarina equisetifolia (Australian beef wood). Other characteristic tree species 
of the eastern littoral are Cycas circinalis, Pandanus (several species), Calophyllum 
inophyllum (Guttiferae), Cerbera odollam (Apocynaceae), Hibiscus tiliaceus and Thes- 
pesia populnea ("Emmajagua" and "Santa Maria," respectively, of Porto Rico), 
(Malvaceae), Hernandia peltata (Hernandiacese), Heritiera littoralis (Sterculiacese), and 
various Leguminosse {Inocarpus edulis, species of Albizzia, Cynometra, Erythrina, Pon- 
gamia glabra, Sophora tomentosa, and others). 

Moist Deciduous Forests. 

Transitional between the littoral woodlands and the rain-forest 
formations in all probability originally occurred the moist deciduous 
forests. On the north side of the island this formation occupied the 
limestone belt lying between the coast and the central mountains 
and extending from San Juan west to Aguadilla. On the south side it 
very likely was confined largely to the middle and upper south slopes 
of the central mountain clay soils. Little forest growth of any sort, 
however, now remains on these areas. Particularly is this true of 
the south slopes of the Cordillera Central, where the trees are scattered 

1 The failiu-e of plant geographers to recognize and segregate this information in the West Indies is prob- 
ably due to the fact that the sites where this formation had formerly attained most characteristic develop- 
ment have long been exclusively appropriated by man for the cultivation of the coconut palm. Else- 
where, possibly by cutting and the more aggressive competition on the part of the closely allied dry decidu- 
ous formation, its composition has been so modified as to make these two formations scarcely distinguish- 
able one from the other. 



28 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

singly or in small clumps on the open grass slopes and in narrow 
strips along the watercourses.* 

On the north side of the divide the virgin forest area near La 
Isolma constitutes a possible remnant of this moist deciduous forest. 
Here the tabanuco (69) is a prominent feature in the stand. Else- 
where, as on the limestone uplands north of Lares, the moralon (15), 
aceitillo (66), capa blanca (155), limoncillo (129), granadillo (124), 
and other large trees are reported formerly to have been common. 
Here, too, we should expect to have found the caoba (72). Some of 
the rich forest growth was cut for fuel and building material, but 
much of it is reported to have been cleared away by the "conuco." 
The land here is now merely open grass land. 

In the "pepino" or "pit" country a homogeneous forest cover is 
impossible. In the pit bottoms, which are now largely under culti- 
vation to bananas and coffee, a high forest cover of the moist deciduous 
type undoubtedly prevailed. The steep sides and summits of these 
hills in many places even to-day present a well-wooded appearance, 
though the occurrence of an occasional fair-sized tree in some par- 
ticularly inaccessible place throws into contrast the main cover, 
which is low and bushy and much like that of the dry deciduous 
formation. Undoubtedly these rough crags have been cut over in 
the past, but owing to their absolute uselessness for cultivation they 
have escaped being burned over. 

EASTERN MOIST DECIDUOUS FORESTS. 

The moist deciduous formation of India and Ceylon contains most of their valuable 
timber trees, such as teak (Tectona grandis), sal (Shorea robusta), satinwood (Chloroxy- 
lon swietenia), ebony (Diosypros ebenum), trincomalie-wood (Berrya ammonilla), etc. 
Near the coast a number of evergreen trees are found in mixture, as Mimusops hexandra, 
M. elengi, species of Memecylon, Pleurostylia wightii, Nephelium, Sapindus, etc. In 
Australia this is a savanna forest and consists largely of acacias and eucalypts. 

In South America this formation more closely resembles the savanna than the rain- 
forest type and is known locally as "campos," "llanos," "caatinga," etc. It is 
important economically because of the rubber-yielding trees which grow within it, 
the " ceara-rubber " tree or "manisoba" (Manihot glaziovii, M. dichotoma, M. piyau- 
hensis, etc.) and the "para-rubber" tree (Hevea braziliensis), the former in the open 
savanna forests of northern Brazil and the latter in the basin of the Amazon. 

Tropical Rain-Forests. 

Forest vegetation culminates in density and luxuriance of growth 
in the rain-forests, the most extensive of the original forest forms, 

• Fringing-forests. — Closely allied to both the moist deciduous and rain-forest formations are the 
appropriately named fringing-forests or gallery-forests, mentioned, respectively, by Schimper and Broun, 
dense tropical forests of unusual luxuriance occupying the banks of streams and rivers within dry regions. 
They owe their luxuriance to the abundant moisture in the soil. Their extent back from the river thus 
depends on the quantity and constancy of the stream flow and the modifying influence it is able to exert 
on the adjacent soils. Such was the tj'pe of forest in all probability that Flinter(see note, p. 21) referred 
to particularly as occurring in the vicinity of Guayama. Remnants of tnese forests are to be seen to-day, 
in many places bordering the south coast streams whore they have not been destroyed to make way for 
cane growing. The contrast between them and adjacent forests of the dry deciduous formation is very 
striking. Tlie rich forests of the Amazon are to a considerable extent of this type. 



Bui. 354, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate IV. 



,, . 




WK^^KM 


Ijl^ 




■ -^Pffi^mBII 


^^HHK^^ 




^ll^^E^^^H^^I^^^^H^H 


^Ei^^^ 




n^jhIHS^Sh 


^^^^HP^^^ 








1 







Fig. 1.— Second Growth Moist Deciduous Forest Between Isabella and 

quebradillas. 




FiQ. 2.—" Fringing Forests" which Skirt the Water Courses through the 
Semiarid South Coast Regions, yet Exhibit Many of the Characteristics 
of the Moist Deciduous and Rain-Forest Formations. 



TYPES OF FOREST. 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 29 

formerly covering the entire central uplands of the island, including 
the valley plains of the large rivers, and reaching quite to the coast 
on the east and west ends of the island. They undoubtedly attained 
their richest development in the bottoms and sheltered slopes of the 
larger river basins, but these being the most productive and the most 
accessible, were the first to be stripped of their forest wealth. There 
is little doubt that the greater part of this splendid natural resource 
was never utilized, but was felled and burned. What remains is but 
a poor example of this once magnificent forest domain. 

The rain-forest from a distance looks not unlike our northern 
deciduous forests, except where groups of palms or the yagruma (136) 
occur in mixture with the broadleaf trees or where the bright-colored 
blossoms of some flowering tree or epiphytic plant perched higli in 
the crown of its towering host interrupts the green of the background. 
The foliage presents a variety of the duller and more somber greens, 
but lacks entirely the fresh new green of the spring foliage in the 
north. The crown level is also less regular than that of our northern 
woods. Individual trees with wide-spreading crowns tower far above 
the general level, the whole presenting a jagged and haphazard appear- 
ance. On closer inspection a further contrast is apparent in the 
greater number of trees with compound leaves, such as cedro (71), 
guaraguao (74), and many others. Tlie crown of the average tree of 
the rain-forest is very much less branched than that of the northern 
deciduous forest tree, there being but few main branches, themselves 
only shghtly branched, so that the tree has a very irregular appear- 
ance. The leaves are highly diversified, not infrequently glossy, and 
of a fine leathery texture, and though pinnate seldom finely so or 
felted with hairs. They are usually set obHquely with relation to the 
direct overhead light and often aggregated in tufts at the ends of long, 
bare branches. 

The interior of the rain-forest is still more striking in contrast and 
more haphazard in appearance than its exterior. The growing space 
appears to be unequally utihzed; in places the stand is very dense 
and is matted and tangled with a profusion of thick-stemmed woody 
lianas and countless epiphytic orchids, bromeliads, ferns, and even 
trees, covering every branch and extending to the tops of the tallest 
trees; in other places the cover is very much broken, permitting great 
patches of sunUght to reach the ground. In the denser parts the 
ground is very sparsely covered, while in the openings palms and 
other young trees, or a most detestable cutting grass, strive to occupy 
the ground. True shrubs are inconspicuous, most of the undergrowth 
being of the same species as the main forest cover. 

The soil in the forest is not only in large, measure bare of herbaceous 
growth, but it is very poor in vegetable mold. It is simply blackened 
by the decaying vegetable matter. Humus, as we know it in the 



30 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF ACUUCULTUKE. 

broadleaf forest of the the north, is very rare. Decomposition is 
extremely rapid under the influence of tropical lioat and great liumid- 
ity, and these, together with more gradual leaf fall, extending over tho 
entire year, prevent tho accumulation of litter. Then, too, the tor- 
rential rains wash much of it off the steep slopes almost as rapidly as 
it is formed. 

As to the trees themselves there is almost infinite assortment of 
kinds, sizes, and forms. One of the most striking features is the large 
munber of light-colored, smooth-barked species resembling in appear- 
ance our northern beech.* Then, too, the trunks of the trees forming 
the main crown cover are very characteristic, being for the most part 
of very unequal thickness, and usually more slender ^ than those in 
the virgin forests of the Temperate Zone. Large trees up to 5 feet 
in diameter above the root flare, however, are not lacking even to-day 
in the Luquillo. There are, besides, many trees, tabanuco (69) for 
instance, with a much-buttressed base formed by plankUke outgrowth 
from the trunk and the uppermost roots. 

There is a striking lack of uniformity in association and in distribu- 
tion of species. The reasons for this are the vast nmnber of species,' 
the combination of accidental association that such a number makes 
possible, and the absence of any considerable modifying soil or other 
conditions tending to form fixed associations within the broader and 
more uniform cUmatic one.^ The presence or absence of a tree, par- 
ticularly one of the more valuable kinds, hke cedro, appears to be a 
matter largely of chance. The really valuable trees seem almost 
hopelessly in the minority, while the inferior species are so numerous 
as to impress one with the apparent worthlessness of the forest. Un- 
questionably many of the so-called worthless woods are unjustly 

1 According to Schimper this is owing to the prejudicial effect of humidity on the formation of cork, the 
bark thus remaining poorly developed. The formation of bark is often so poor that moderately large 
trees show green, owing to the chlorophyll of the cortical layer being visible through it. There is, never- 
theless, considerable individuality to the bark of ditTerent trees; some have thin flaky and scaly bark, as 
in Myrtacefc, or a green surface, as in some Leguminoscse; others, again, are armed with spines or corky 
warts, while still others exude resins when wounded. 

2 This, according to Schimper, is a distinguishing characteristic of the virgin tropical forest. Woodward, 
too, discussing the rain-forest in Santo Domingo, states that while trees over 5 feet in diameter and 100 feet 
high are occasionally found, the average is far below these figures. 

8 Gifford and Barrett in their "Trees of the I.uquillo Region" (appendix to Bulletin 54, Forest Ser\-ice, 
"The Luquillo Forest Reser\-e, Porto Rico") compiled a classified description of something over 100 identi- 
fied species and enumerated besides the common names of nearly 100 more. 

< That the condition is not peculiar to Potto Rico, as many believe, and that, except in extent, the rain 
forests of the Lufiuillo do not essentially diller from the other Antillean forests, the following will show: 
Woodward remarks that in the virgin rain-forests of Santo Domingo two caoba (mahogany) trees to tho 
acre constitute a good stand. Fernow, likewise, is speaking of the virgin forests of the Sierra Maestra, Cuba, 
remarks that it was most puzzling to discover a law of distribution. " After many days cruising," he say?, 
"over canyon, slope, and ridge one finds in identically the same kind of locality a new species, a single tree 
or group never to be seen again in further cruisings. Nearly 400 miles had been traveled before the first 
group of ebony was met." He further states that "the openness of the main stand may l)e judged from the 
statement that as developed by some 1,200 acres of sample area, less than 1.4 trees of commercial size per 
acre were found. When it is considered that over 100 species participate in making up this stand the diffi- 
culties of a commercial or even a botanical survey will be realized." 



POEESTS OF PORTO RICO. ' 31 

discriminated against because theii' good qualities are commercially 
unknown. 

There is an almost complete absence of species having a gregarious 
habit, the tabanuco (69)^ and palma de sierra (3) being the chief 
exceptions. 

RAIN FORESTS OF THE LUQUILLO. 

The entire forested area in the Sierra de Luquillo is within the 
rain-forest belt. The situation is, however, a generally unfavorable 
one as compared with other areas of abundant ramfaU by virtue 
of its unshielded exposure to the fuU force of the trade winds, so that 
the forests here represent rather the nmiimum tropical rain-forest 
development. 

The mam stand of the typical rain-forest development previously 
described covers probably somewhat more than half of the mountain 
area. Its four leadmg species are tabanuco (69), guaraguao (74), 
laurel sabino (17), and ausubo (141), in the order of their numerical 
importance. Largely because it has always been in great demand 
among the natives for all manner of uses, the ausubo is now quite 
scarce. Cedro (71), too, is only occasionally to be found here. It is 
doubtful if there was ever more than a scattermg of caoba (72), 
because of its preference for a sHghtly less humid site. While these 
forests are usually considered to be undisturbed original growth, 
such is not, strictly speaking, the case, for cedro and others of the 
more valuable woods have been taken out a tree at a time by a 
gradual cuUing process extending over many years.^ 

Two subordinate types. within the tropical rain-forest belt of the 
Luquillo are the "hurricane hardwood" and ''sierra palm" types. 
The former, occupying the places of greatest exposure, the ridge sum- 
mits and the easterly slopes above 2,500 feet elevation particularly, is 
a low, gnarled, and stunted tree growth, mainly of the inferior species.^ 
Scarcely 25 feet high, the stands are in most places very dense and 
the limbs of the trees interlace and are covered with water-laden 
moss. For days at a time this type may be continuously bathed in 

1 See Plate III. 

> There is authentic information concerning one cedro cut within the last 6 years from the south side of 
the range, the stump of which yet remains and measures 18 feet in circumference (5J feet in diameter). 
Several attempts are reported to have been made before a purchaser could be found for this tree because 
of its size and the difHculty of felling it and moving it away with the ordinary means at hand. Another, 
still standing at the present time, measures 25 feet 5 inches in circumference. 

» An instance called to the attention of the writer relative to one of the secondary peaks visited by him in 
1912 toward the south side of the range (elevation 3,000 feet) suggests the possibility of the hurricane of 1898 
being at least a contributory cause of the low cover found on these exposed sites and led to the selection 
of the name " hurricane hardwood " type to designate this growth. An American resident said that at the 
time she took up residence there in the winter of 1899-1900 this peak was stripped entirely bare of all vege- 
tation and that it remained so for 2 to 3 years afterward. Gradually it showed patches of green and 
eventually became entirely covered. The present stand is a dense young growth of yagrumo, palma de 
sierra, and other of the poorer quality hardwoods. It may be significant that Dr. George Eggar, quoted 
by Hill, does not remark on the presence of such a growth at the time of his exploration of El Yunque iu 
1887, when a more normal growth may have been present. 



32 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

moisture by the clouds, which leave the suininits of these mountains 
only intermittently during a considerable part of the year. Although 
commercially of no value whatever, this scrub growth is tremendously 
important hi protecthig the exposed slopes from erosion. 

Palma de sierra occurs throughout the uplands and in places in 
sufhcient numbers to dominate the stand, forming what may be 
called the "sierra palm" typo. This occurs alike on the exposed 
easterly slope and in the protected basins, often where the land is 
rough and stony and windfall most likely. Consequently it is quite 
likely a temporary type brought about through windstorm or other 
accident to the original stand. In the protected locaUties the 
associated species comprising the more valuable hardwoods are 
numerous and usually well developed, so that the growth is not 
without commercial value and future possibihties. At present these 
two types — the " hurricane hardwood " type, of no commercial value, 
and the "sierra palm" type, only partially merchantable — aggregate 
about half the forested area and dominate the mountain tops and 
exposed uplands of the Luquillo. ^ 

KAIN FORESTS OP THE EASTERN TROPICS. 

Many valuable species, including the great natural order of the Dipterocarpaceae, 
find their homes in the luxuriant rain forests of the Philippines, the other East Indies, 
and the neighboring mainland. The different trees of this order by the variety of 
their woods, varying from those resembling our soft pine to the heaviest and hardest 
cabinet woods, are suitable to almost every conceivable use. Several are gregarious 
and form more or less pure forests, as for instance the eng (Dipterocarpus tuherculatus) 
of Burma, the hora {D. zeylanicus) of Ceylon, also Vatica obscura and V. roxburghiana 
of Ceylon. Other forests are dominated by members of this natural order. Thus, in 
the moister forests of Ceylon there are portions composed almost entirely of different 
species of Doona, freely mixed with Dipterocarpus, Shorca, Stemonoporus, Hopea, and 
along rocky gullies Valeria. In the Philippines 70 per cent of the total stand of timber 
is said to consist of trees of this family. Economically, therefore, this natural order 
is a verj' important one, for besides its major timber products it yields many A-aluable 
minor products, as camphor from Dryabalanops aromatica, gum resin and dammar 
from several species of Shorea, Doona, and Dipterocarpiis, and so on. The tribe of 
the bamboos also finds in these wet tropical forests its greatest development. 

Besides the above there are many species of value both in the East Indies and on the 
mainland, in Africa, and tropical Australia and Queensland. This region, not to 
mention the resources of tropical America, affords opportunity for almost infinite 
selection for introduction by which to repair any deficiencies in commercial qualities 
of the Porto Rican tree flora. 

Dry Deciduous Forests. 

The dry deciduous formation known in others of the West Indies 
and in Central America and Mexico as chaparral was in pre-Colum- 
bian times the second most extensive. Typically a formation of the 
semiarid region, it dominated the south coast lands, foothills, plains, 
and lower slopes of the central mountains from Patillas to Hormin- 



Bui. 354, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate V. 




Fig. 1.— South Slopes of Luquillo Mountains. 

Cleared almost to the summit. " La Florida," the fruit farm in the foreground, is in the 
southeast corner of the Forest on the Rio Blanco. The elevation here is about 100 feet while 
the peak in the background, scarcely 2 miles distant, is 3,000 feet above sea level. 










^'«r"?e:E| 



«fc.- 



FiQ. 2.— Luquillo Mountains from the North. 

Valley of Rio Maneyes in foreground. El Yunque, elevation 3,483 feet, at the right. Smoke 
in the middle ground probably from the burning of cane refuse after the harvest. 



LOQUILLO NATIONAL FOREST. 



Bui. 354, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate VI. 






^ ..'- 




FiQ. 1.— The Wooded Summit of El Yunque, from Las Piedras, a Rock Bald 
Close to the Summit. 

Note the sierra palms mixed groupwise in the hardwood stand. 




F-20022A 

FiQ 2 -Vi^w TO the East from El Yunque, Showing the Outline of the East 
Coast from Cape San Juan Southward. 

The greater part ci the forested tract in the foreground belongs to the insular governmenl 
Note thc^smoke in the right center from a charcoal pit or conuco clearing, doubtless. 



LUQUILLO NATIONAL FOREST. 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 33 

gueros (not far from one-fourth the area of the island), as well as 
Vieques, Culebra, Mona, and the other outlying islands. It still 
occupies to a large extent the thin-soiled, rugged limestone hills, and 
has extended itself on the poorer soils of the north coast, principally 
at the expense of the dry tidal woodlands and moist deciduous forests 
of the limestone formation. In both situations, however, its compo- 
sition is somewhat modified through the persistence of some of the 
more tenacious species of the formations displaced. On the deeper 
soils of the more gentle slopes and plains of the south coast country 
back from the streams the dry deciduous forest has in large meas- 
ure been displaced by agriculture — nomadic agriculture originally 
which burned and destroyed the forests and planted on their ashes. 
This land once cleared and then abandoned reverts to a forest growth 
with extreme difficulty, if at all. The open grass-covered savanna 
is the general result, with but here and there a tree where a particu- 
larly large individual escaped destruction or local conditions favored 
its getting a start and enabled it to compete with the turf. A tran- 
sitional form of forest which might be called the "savanna forest" 
may occasionally be met with where the open savanna and the true 
forest join. Here the most hardy and drought-resisting varieties of 
trees form open stands in the grassy waste. 

Although the dry deciduous forests vary from the closed chaparral 
form to that of the open savanna, they have certain well-defined 
characteristics. They are more or less leafless during the several 
months of the dry season and have a generally brown and parched 
appearance, evergreen trees such as the pajuil (86) being rare. Grass 
and other herbaceous growth under and between the trees is almost 
always present. Lianas are small and slender and absent entirely 
from the more open parts of the formation. Tillandsia (Spanish 
moss) festoons many of the trees and is the most conspicuous and 
most common among the epiphytes, here known collectively as 
pinuelas. There are a few other bromeliads and an occasional orchid. 
Exceedingly characteristic also of the formation are the pitajaya 
(120) and tuna (120), the tree cactuses and opuntias. 

The trees themselves, rarely over 30 feet high, are short and thick- 
bodied, have a thick, fissured bark and a light, open, feathery crown 
which in the open is very apt to be flat-topped and umbrella-shaped, 
or to have its branches and foliage arranged in tiers. Leguminous 
trees with thorny branches and fine, usually firm-textured compound 
leaves, are particularly characteristic. Among the more common of 
these are guava (36), guama (37), tachuelo (54), cobana negra (44), 
algarrobo (45), campeche (50), moca (58), and many others. The 
wood of many of these trees is extremely heavy, hard, and durable. 
21871°— Bull. 354—16 3 



34 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Among nonloguminous trees are guayacan (60), jobo (87), almacigo 
(70), tea (64), guano (107),ucar (126),qucbra hacha (94), and a host 
of others. The ceiba (105) is a conspicuous tree of the open savanna.' 

Old Field Growth. 

The old field type is an incidental and temporary one, in many 
places in a formative state. It varies considerably from place to 
place, the designation having been selected for all situations where 
there is a manifest tendency of land formerly cultivated and now 
more or less covered witli grass to revert to forest. This tendency 
is at present general except on some dry south coast situations. The 
palm-studded hills most strikingly display this effort of nature to 
restore the balance. Palms, through their ability to grow in dry 
situations, are to that extent admirably adapted to assume this 
pioneer role. Their poor reproductive capacity, with the possible 
exception of the palma de sierra, renders them less aggressive than 
they othei-wise might be. Another conspicuous old field pioneer 
growth is the poma rosa (133). The ''pomarosa" type is very con- 
spicuously developed on the uplands between Cayey and Guayama 
and in the vicinity of Aibonito. Natural reforestation even by this 
apparently more aggressive tree is slow. This may be due in part 
to a practice of successive clearings rotating this volunteer wood 
growth with intermittent cropping to rice, beans, and the like. Clot- 
ting for charcoal and for other uses also undoubtedly interferes. 

Cultural Forests. 

A description of the forests of Porto Rico would be incomplete 
without mention of its cultural forests. They not only cover a con- 
siderable acreage and are uniformly developed and kept up, but they 
are the most conspicuous forest growth on the island taken as a 

whole. 

coconut palm groves. 

The palma de coco (4), or simply coco, is of imcertain origin,^ but, 
however that may be, it has by one means or another been distributed 

I One especially notable tree of this species near Ponce measures, according to Cook and Collins, 36 meters 
(118 feet) in circumference 4 feet from the ground, following the sinuosities of the trunk. Herrera says of 
the ceiba that it "has so great a shade that a strong man can not throw a stone across it. The tree is so 
big that a carpenter whose name was Pantaleo made a chapel of one hollowed out, being so thick that 
15 men holding hand in hand can not grasp it. " 

' Cook ("The Origin and Distribution of the Coconut Palm," by O. F. Cook, Contributions from the 
National Herbarium, Vol. VII, No. 2) scouts the currently accepted opmion that this species originated in 
the Indian Archipelago and concludes: "The original habitat of the coco palm is to be sought in South 
America, the home of all the other species of cocos and of most of the closely related genera." He likewise 
controverts the common notion that the coconut originated as a strand plant, that the thick husk is an 
adaptation to enable the dispersal of seed by ocean currents, and that even the seeds thus transported have 
the ability to germinate and maintain themselves in competition with the other strand vegetation. " The 
coco palm," he says, "is unable to maintain an existence when subjected to the competition of the wild 
vegetation of tropical shores and forests." And, finally, "the idea (that they can not thrive in undisturbed 
nature) is recognized in the Cingalese proverb, ' The coconut will not grow out of the sound of the sea or of 
human voices,' and in the belief held among the same people that the trees will not thrive unless 'you walk 
and talk amongst them.' " 



FORESTS OP PORTO RICO. 35 

widely throughout the maritime regions of the Tropics. How long 
it has been cultivated can only be surmised, but sufficiently long at 
any rate for the development of many varieties. These varietal 
forms are mostly found in the islands of the Indian Ocean and the 
Malay region, little attention haviag been given to improvement by 
selection in tropical America. 

These groves line the shore in many places and, when well cared for, 
are a profitable source of income. As yet the nut is the only product 
exported from the island.^ There were, according to the 1912 tax 
assessment list, 6,556 acres of land under coconuts, having a total 
value of $663,710, and an average value per acre of $101.24 (maxi- 
mxmi $269.45 in Anasco and minimum $24 in Comerio). 

THE COFFEE FORESTS. 

Coffee will grow without difficulty at sea level, but it thrives best 
in the upland district above 2,000 feet elevation. Because of this 
adaptability to soil and climatic conditions more or less unfavorable 
to crops requiring clean cultivation, its extension throughout the 
uplands of the interior was readily accomplished. Whether or not 
the coffee bush was ever cultivated in the open here, as in Brazil, it 
is now considered necessary to grow it under shade. ^ Wliile areas 
of virgin forest were available these were used for coffee culture, the 
overwood being thinned and the underwood cleaned out and replaced 
by the coffee tree. In the absence of a natural forest growth the 
leguminous trees guava (36) and guama (37), and to a less extent 
bucare (59), are planted instead. The shade trees and coffee bush 
are planted at the same time, the former by their naturally rapid 
growth reaching a size to afford the requisite protection by the time 
the coffee tree comes into bearing. 

The coffee forests are of interest from the forestry standpoint 
chiefly because of the protection which they afford to the steep 
mountain slopes, although, on accomit of the relatively thin cover 
and the small amount of cultivation they get, a certam amount of 
soil erosion necessarily occurs. 

CACAO PLANTATIONS. 

Practically no cacao is now cultivated commercially, although 
formerly it was to a limited extent. It is a semiforest crop growing 

1 The coconut yields in addition "coir," a fiber obtained from the husks and used in the manufacture of 
cordage and for many other purposes; "copra," the dried meat of the nut, which when pressed yields 
coconut oil and a "cake" ; besides the various uses of the wood. (See AppendLx 1, imder "Coco.") 

*The advantages which may be attributable to the shading of the coffee, particularly when leguminous 
trees are used for this purpose, are as follows: The trees hold the soil In place, at the same time protecting 
the superficial roots of the coffee tree, require little care or replanting, discourage by their shade the growth 
of weeds, diminish the cost of cultivation, and lessen the bad effects of drought, act beneficially in breaking 
the force of the strong trade winds and of the pelting of the torrential rain, and enrich the soil. The actual 
shade itself, however, is said to be unnecessary and even prejudicial. The use of leguminous shade trees 
is said to be a remnant of a prehistoric agricultural practice employed in the cultivation of both cacao (choco- 
late) and coca (cocaine) by the natives of Central and South America before the advent of Europeans and 
is still in favor among them. 



36 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMEXT OF AGRICULTURE. 

under a forest-tree shade, like coffee, but, unlike coffee, it does best 
in the low country at elevations below 500 feet. It is chiefly of 
interest here as offering a suitable means of restoring a forest cover 
and providing an agricultural crop on some of the less fertile cane 
lands,* where a forest cover is particularly desirable because of its 
influence on bird life so necessary to the control of insect pests. 

FOREST INFLUENCES.2 

Forests make their presence felt tlu-ough their influence on climate, 
on stream flow, and on soil erosion. In a country as abundantly 
watered as is Porto Rico whether the forests cause slightly more rain 
in the aggregate matters little. Within the forests, particularly those 
in the mountainous interior, the temperature of the air is appreciably 
milder and the humidity relatively higher than in the open. One 
effect of this may be observed in the formation during the dry season 
of clouds above the forests of El Yunque and vicinity, when none 
exist elsewhere. These rapidly disappear as they pass on to the 
westward and come in contact with the columns of heated air rising 
from the open slopes and cultivated valleys toward Juncos and 
Caguas. The modifymg influence is likewise manifested in the cool 
air which descends after sundown into the open cultivated valleys 
from the wooded slopes of the coffee district. 

The most important influence of the forests is in the checking of 
floods and erosion, though the conditions in Porto Rico are such as 
to make control of floods by forestation alone impossible. Through- 
out a greater part of the year the forest soils, except those of the 
limestone hills, are nearly, if not quite, saturated with moisture. 
Steep slopes and rain in the form of brief but torrential downpours 
are the rule and complete a combination favorable to most rapid 
run-off. These make it necessary to supplement forestation by a 

1 Cacao undoubtedly could be grown as profitably in Porto Rico as in Granada (British West Indies), 
where conditions of conflgairation, rainfall, soil, trade winds, etc., are very similar and where an even greater 
density of population prevails. According to a " Report on the Economic Resources of the West Indies" 
(by Daniel Morris, assistant director Royal Gardens Kew, in Kcw Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, 
Additional Series 1, 1S9S) cacao was first planted in Granada on moimtain lands as it formerly was in Porto 
Rico, the lowlands being entirely in sugar estates. But later it was tried on the lowlands and found to 
rival sugar in productiveness. In 1S95 Granada was said to be the only West Indian colony of Great Britain 
that was independent of sugar. An especial feature of the cultivation of cacao is that it can be raised to 
advantage on small holdings. 

2 Of more than passing interest in this connection are the following observations by Col. Flinter (see 
Bibliography), wiitten in 1834: "The government has most wisely ordered that three trees should be 
planted for every one cut down. It is to be hoped that this order may be rigorously enforced; for, in the 
first place, wood is the great and principal agent in the atmosphere for the attraction of the clouds, * * * 
If these laws on this head are carried into force by the local magistrates the island ^nll always have on it an 
inexhaustible source of timber; but if, on the contrary, these useful precepts are not followed, water will 
become scarce; the rivers will dry up; the fields will become scorched savannas for want of moisture; the 
cattle will find neither food nor shade from the noonday sun; and this beautiful and fertile island will at 
once be deprived of its enchanting verdure, its fertiUty, and its riches. This is not the dream of imagination 
or the ridiculous prognostication of ideal ills. I am aware that this can not happen before the expiration 
of a century; but it is the duty of governments and individuals to look forward to posterity. It is their duty, by 
wise and prudent measures, to foresee and prevent at the present day the ills which may be inflicted on future 
generations by undue considerations or concessions of temporary interests." (Italicizing is the author's.) 



Bui. 354, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate VII. 





taoSaOo 






9 g a> 
I" n'Z 






Bui. 354, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate VIII. 




5 tiJ 



"I 







EOEESTS OF PORTO EICO. 37 

succession of reservoirs and a cleaning up of the channels if any 
noticeable reduction of the eroding effects of floods is to be had. 

Forests aid in conserving the water in the soil. The trees both aid 
the water in getting into the soil and then help the sod to hold on to 
it. In the first place, the trees break the beatmg force of the rain, 
which in the Tropics is considerable, and thus help to keep the surface 
layers of the forest soil from bemg beaten down and rendered compact 
and impervious like the soil in the open. Then the roots of the trees 
make the soil more open and accessible to percolatmg water. The 
roots and such ground cover and litter as there are impede the progress 
of surface run-off and afford the soil more time to absorb the water. 
With more water gettmg into the forest soil than in grassland soil, 
both bemg of a retentive character, there will be more water to find 
its way to springs and be gradually poured out into the rivers to 
sustam them during the periods of little rain. 

The forest influences erosion in two ways: By reducing the force 
and interruptmg the passage of the surface run-off in the catchment 
areas around the headwaters of the streams it slows up the washing 
away of the surface layers of the soil and greatly impedes gullying. 
At the same time the ability of the run-off to transport eroded ma- 
terial is very considerably lessened. A grass cover, if it forms a firm, 
well-knit sod, is also quite effective in resisting the erosive action of 
surface run-off. When, however, the grass grows in bunches and is 
mterspersed with patches of bare ground or with tender, succulent 
herbage that dies out m dry weather, leaving the soil exposed, erosion 
and run-off is little affected. This is often the condition on the 
upper and drier slopes on the south side of the island. That these 
open slopes are not scored more deeply than they are is undoubtedly 
due m large measure to the tenacity of the soil. 

'It is when the run-off is gathered mto the streams of the island 
and reaches the foothills country, where the character of the soil 
changes from the heavy clays of the interior to the lighter and more 
readily eroded coast soils, that the greatest damage is done. The 
rivers are generally too short to choke up and overflow, as would 
otherwise more frequently happen. Yet they are continually 
widening and shiftmg their channels, cuttmg off islands from adjoin- 
ing fields, and undermmmg their banks. Frequently it is not so 
much the water that creates the havoc as the material which it picks 
up and transports. Besides the finer soil particles and gravel, large 
bowlders are dislodged and roUed along with great destructive force. 
Thus the volume of water which comes from the hills may in the 
course of its passage to the sea be doubled by the material trans- 
ported by it or dumped into it from caving banks. 

A fringe of forest growth along the banks will materially lessen the 
liability to this kind of erosion. Certain of the bamboos are par- 



38 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

ticularly suitable for this purpose and formerly were plentiful along 
the water courses in Porto Rico. But since sugar cane has become 
the all-important crop in tlie lowlands, the bamboo has been sacrificed 
to secure a few more feet of land or because it shaded the cane planted 
near the edge of the field. The folly of this procedure can be seen 
in places where the extra feet of cane rows thus secured at the sacrifice 
of bamboo and several more with them have been subsequently 
undermined by flood and dumped into the river.* 

The close relation of forests to stream flow and erosion is not 
difficult to observe in Porto Rico. Compare, for instance, the lower 
reaches of the north coast rivers, particularly those rising in the coffee 
district or the Luquillo, with the south coast rivers, as, for instance, 
the Portugucs. The former have relatively few abandoned channel 
beds and less spreading stream bottoms, are obstructed only by sandy 
or gravelly bars and relatively small bowlders, and show a reasonable 
flow of water even in the dry months. The Portugucs and other south- 
side rivers, which are largely fed by the rains falling on the steep 
grass slopes of the Cordillera Central, have wide, dry bottoms showing 
often no less than six different channels separated by low islands, and 
many shoals, remnants of a former river bank. The bowlders, which 
are everjnvhere strewn about, are several times the size of those in 
the north coast rivers, the banks are often steep and undermined, and 
the stream is of almost inconceivable insignificance on the midst of 
surroundings indicative of such destructive power. The many 
streams and waterfalls in the heart of the interior flow from the wooded 
slopes (even when swollen by heavy rains) practically clear, carrying 
but little sediment; on the other hand, the waters of the south coast 
embayments at the mouths of the rivers are red-brown in the flood 
season with the soil brought down by the rushing torrents. 

Many examples might be found in the Tropics of serious injury resulting from 
destruction of the forest or of benefits following its restoration. Owing to reforestations 
effected on a large scale, the rainfall on the island of St. Helena has actually been 
doubled since the time of Napoleon I ; and in Lower Egypt, where in the eighteenth cen- 
tury rain only fell on from 10 to 12 days in the year, the number of rainy days nowadays 
reaches from 30 to 40. On the other hand, in Syria and Palestine there are numerous 
regions which were formerly in a flourishing condition but have become arid and waste 
in consequence of the destruction of forests. ^ In the West Indies themselves, the 
experiences of Martinique are particularly instructive. Here as early as 1843 the man- 

1 The. following, which bears closely on this situation, is quoted from the 1907 report of Lorrin A. 
Thurston, chairman of the committee on forestry of the Hawaiian Sugar Planters' Association: 

" In the past the subject of forestry has been largely treated by this association as an interesting incident, 
hut not as one of direct concern or of possible immediate benefit or profit to its members. Within two 
years I have heard of trees bounding fields being cut out because the shade injured the adjoining cane. 

" In all earnestness I urge upon the association that the time for this view of forestry and its possibilities 
In Hawaii has passed, and that the preservation, propagation, and utilizing of forests and forest products 
should from this time forth be made one of the leading features of the efforts of the planters' association, 
both by it as an organization and through the individuals and corporations which give it its strength." 
(Italicizing is the author's.) 

2 General report by C. CapoUetti, of the proceedings of the Navigation Congress at Milan in 1905. 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 39 

ufacture of charcoal was recognized as the most serious single cause of the forest de- 
struction which resulted in timber shortage, interruption and impairment of stream 
flow, soil wastage, damage to valuable agricultural lands through erosion, and shortage 
in the supply of water for power and other purposes. To remedy this situation the ex- 
portation of charcoal was prohibited, and stringent measures were adopted to regulate 
its manufacture, sale, and distribution. Most important of all, however, a forestry 
association ^ was formed which is supported by the Government. It has not only made 
a beginning in experimental reforestation, but is working through the schools, the 
celebration of Arbor Day, and the distribution of forest-planting stock at cost to 
arouse public interest in forestry. 

The subject of conserving the forests for their influence on the 
water supply has not been without consideration in Porto Rico, 
since there appears in the "law of waters" this very significant 
language: ''The colonial secretary shall also direct that a study be 
made of the portions of the basins and watersheds which it is advisable 
to keep wooded in the interest of a control of the water supply." ^ 
Like many another good piece of Spanish legislation, it remained legis- 
lation to the end. It is still, however, a part of the laws of the realm 
to-day and awaits as formerly official action. So much and more 
should be imdertaken without delay. 

COMMERCIAL ASPECTS. 

In the larger commercial sense the forests of Porto Rico are 
insignificant. Leaving out of consideration coconuts and coffee, there 
is not a single article of export which is in any sense a forest product. 
The forests are, however, of tremendous importance as a source of 
domestic wood supply. 

Local Timber and Wood Supply. 

The estimated present resources of those forest lands capable of 
yielding saw logs are placed at 96,442,500 cubic feet (1,155,000 cords). 
Of this amount, however, there are only 4,592,500 cubic feet (27,- 
500,000 feet, or 55,000 cords) of saw-log size, the great bulk being 
chiefly suitable for fuel, small house logs, and piling, posts, and tlie 
like. There are about 110,000 acres of such lands on which it is 
believed the average yield will not exceed 876.7 cubic feet (10.5 
cords) per acre, of which 41.7 cubic feet (0.5 cord) will be found suit- 
able for saw logs. On another 333,000 acres, comprising small wood 
and brush lands, including mangrove, the produce consists largely 
of fuel, house piling, and other small materials, averaging scarcely 
334 cubic feet (4 cords) per acre. This will add another 111,222,000 
cubic feet (1,332,000 cords) to the general resources. The total 
present supply is, therefore, 207,664,500 cubic feet (2,487,000 cords). 

1 "La Societe Martiniquaise des Amios des Arbres" was founded in November, 1909. 

2 Art. 59 of the Spanish law of June 13, 1879, which was extended over Porto Rico by Royal decree of 
Feb. 5, 1886, and reenacted and amended by the Legislative Assembly of Porto Rico, Mar. 12, 1903. 



40 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Stated in one lump sum it seems considerable, yet it is equivalent to 
scarcely 185 cubic feet per capita — less than the annual per capita 
consumption of the United States or Canada. 

The value of this resource is $6,780,000, on the basis of 3 cents a 
cubic foot for all material except timber, which is estimated at 15 
cents. The value of any by-products and the far more important 
soil protective value are, of course, left entirely out of account. 
The wood value alone, however, if invested at 5 per cent, would 
yield in interest approximately $340,000. The expenditure through 
an appropriation from the insular treasury of less than 6 per cent of 
this latter amount, or about $20,000, for a forest service to protect 
and improve the principal, would seem, therefore, to be a fully war- 
ranted, sound, and businesslike policy. 

Lumber and Timber Imports. 

Commercial expansion during the last few years has created a 
heavy demand for building lumber, timbers, and the like, which, 
because of the scarcity of suitable native woods, have been imported. 
Naturally most of this material has come from the United States, 
the Gulf ports more particularly. 

Imports of forest products from the United States for the fiscal 
year 1911 totaled $1,308,579, an increase of 225 per cent over those 
of 1909. Besides this the United States supplied furniture and other 
manufactures of wood amounting to $684,560. Foreign lumber, 
timber, and manufactures to the amount of $131,623 were imported, 
of which material worth $14,616 came through the United States. 
The gross value from all sources was thus $2,124,762, of which lum- 
ber, timber, etc., exclusive of naval stores or manufactures of wood, 
amounted to $1,382,506. 

The quantity of wood imported, exclusive of such products as 
shingles, box shooks, etc., amounts to 9,120,872 cubic feet (54,616,000 
feet b. m.), including 8,382,064 cubic feet (50,192,000 feet b. m.) in 
lumber, scantling, and sawed timber from the United States, and 
738,808 cubic feet (4,424,000 feet b. m.) from abroad. In addition, 
there was imported from the United States 26,717 cubic feet in 
hewed timber. Thus the grand total of wood imports amounted to 
9,147,589 cubic feet, or about 8.2 cubic feet per capita. 

Demands for Wood. 

The demands for wood products are about half for commercial 
and half for domestic uses. Most of the commercial demands are 
supplied by imports. The commercial demands supplied by native- 
grown wood come chiefly from power development, which takes 
3,633,336 cubic feet (43,513 cords) each year, equivalent to 3.25 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 



41 



cubic feet per capita/ The raw materials for the manufacture of 
furniture and novelties, native carts, ox yokes, and the like, also 
railroad ties, for narrow-gauge roads principaDy, posts and heavy 
structural timbers, in the aggregate probably amount to less than 
1 cubic foot per capita. 

Probably not less than 11,180,000 cubic feet (133,892 cords), 
equivalent to 10 cubic feet per capita, is consumed for domestic 
purposes. This means that an average family of five persons con- 
sumes only a little more than half a cord of wood each year. The 
demand for house piling, rafters, flooring, and the like is at the 
present time inconsiderable — not more than 2 cubic feet per capita 
(2,236,000 cubic feet) — because of the great scarcity of wood over 
most of the island and the prevailing low standard of living, especially 
among the rural population. 

The various present demands for wood, aside from the manufac- 
tures of wood, may thus be summarized: 



Character of de- 
mand. 



Source of supply and uses. 



Per capita. 



Total. 



Commercial. 
Domestic . . . 



Imports, building material, etc 

Local, fuel only 

Local, fuel 

House pilings, and poles, posts, etc 

Total 

Net total, excluding imports 



Cubic feet. 
8.2 
3.25 
10.00 
2.00 



Cubic feet. 
9,147,589 
3,633,336 

11,180,000 
2,236,000 



23.45 
15.25 



26,196,925 
17,049,336 



Note. — The domestic demand is entirely an estimate; the commercial demand is based on the census 
and customs reports for 1910 and 1911, respectively. 

The present status of the supply and demand is graphically repre- 
sented in figure 7, which shows that the present per capita supply, 
at the rate it is now being consumed, will be exhausted in about 12 
years. Yet at the present rate of production it will require more 
than 45 years to produce a similar supply, or nearly four times as 

1 Manufactures, Porto Rico; Bulletin of the Thirteenth Census, 1910: "Closely related to the question 
of kind of power employed is that of the fuel used in generating this power. * * * Porto Rico has no 
mineral fuel, and its wood supply is being depleted as manufactures increase. The following table shows 
the quantity of each kind of fuel used in 1909." 



Industry. 


Anthra- 
cite coal. 


Bitumi- 
nous coal. 


Coke. 


Wood. 


Oil, 
includ- 
ing gaso- 
line. 


Others. 


All industries 


Tons. 
946 


Tms. 
41,988 


Tons. 
368 


Cords. 
43,513 


Barrels. 
1,036 


Tom. 
520 




Bread and other bakery products 


5 
128 
200 




6 
234 


13, 444 

2,846 

737 

19,656 


76 
33 




Coffee, cleaning and polishing 


1,293 

2,712 

31,808 

790 

5,385 




Liquors, distilled 




Sugar and molasses 




365 

17 

546 


275 


Tobacco manufactures 








All other industries . 


613 


128 


6,830 


245 





42 



BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 



long to produce as to consume it. New growth, however, during 
the period will extend the supply to slightly more than 16 years. 
It is, however, not to bo expected that the island will be denuded of 
all woods at the end of this period. Experience teaches us that what 
actually happens in such cases is that consumption decreases as more 




Fig. 7. — Per capita supply, production, and consumption of wood in Porto Rico, showing the rate at which 
present merchantable wood supply is being drawn on each year to meet domestic need, and the rate of 
its replenishment through new growth. The large circle represents the present per capita wood supply 
(185 cubic feet) exclusive of imports. The small circle rcpresents-per capita of wood production in one 
year (4 cubic feet), and the dot and dash circles the corresponding production per decade. (Based on a 
present annual growth of 10 cubic feet per acre per annum, equivalent to 4 cubic feet per capita.) 

and more people are unable to pay the advancing prices. In the 
present instance it simply means a progressively increasing privation. 

TREND OF FUTURE DEMANDS. 

Education and the establishment of a more permanent form of 
agriculture will inevitably raise the standard of living among the 
lower classes and increase correspondingly the demands on the forests 
for both building materials and fuel, and besides these is the 
normally increasing demand occasioned by increased population. 
Kerosene and denatured alcohol can not, at least for a long time, 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 43 

take the place of wood. The change would necessitate not only the 
displacmg of the customs of centuries, but an investment in stoves 
and burners, which the average person can not afford. The domestic 
per capita consumption of fuel can therefore be expected to rise from 
year to year. 

The sugar mills are now the largest commercial users of native 
wood. Under present unproved methods the refuse cane fiber, known 
as "bagasse," is burned under the boilers, which effects a considerable 
wood saving. Some wood is still required to sustain this "bagasse" 
fuel, but as one "central" has already substituted crude oil for this 
purpose with satisfactory results, it is possible that in time all the 
larger mills at least may likewise adopt that fuel. It is thus probable 
that the maximum demands on the native wood supply have been 
reached by this industry. A gradual decline may consequently be 
expected. 

The bakeries are the second largest commercial consumers of 
wood, and they demand cordwood of regulation size. The possi- 
bility of their changing to oil or other substitute fuel seems remote at 
the present time. The business is conducted on a small scale, with 
too limited a capital to justify such an outlay. The Army bakeries 
also consume a relatively large amount of cordwood. Any imme- 
diate decrease in demands of these or other industries where wood is 
largely used in the generation of power is thus hardly to be looked for. 

BALANCING SUPPLY AND DEMAND. 

Everything points to a sustained or an increased demand for wood. 
Commercial expansion can and will be taken care of by an increased 
volume of imports. But local and domestic needs accommodate 
themselves less readily and less promptly to new sources of supply. 
With production falling behind consumption, hardship and depriva- 
tion must be the inevitable consequences. This condition promises 
to grow more serious unless relief can be had through increased pro- 
duction. Two ways are open to effect this — -planting new forests and 
improving the existing woodlands. 

The restoration of a reasonable balance between cleared lands and 
forests is necessary. One-half million acres under prime forest 
growth will scarcely more th^ meet the situation. At present a 
large part of the 443,000 acres of timber and brush land yields not 
more than 10 cubic feet per acre a year, worth, at 3 cents per cubic 
foot, about $135,000. The improvement of these and the planting 
to new forest growth of 100,000 acres besides would provide approxi- 
mately one-half acre of productive forest per capita, which is about 
the minimum required by a people to meet their own needs. A con- 
servative estimate of the average annual growth to be expected on 
such area under forest management would be 30 cubic feet per acre, 



44 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUBE. 

worth in the aggregate approxhnately $490,000. Accordmgly, to 

neglect to adopt a constructive forest policy for the future will mean 

the loss of a possible income from wood products of $355,000 per 

annum. 

forest industries. 

Charcoaling. 

One could hardly expect that with depleted forests there would be 
many or very flom-ishing industries.* The charcoal industry is prob- 
ably the leading forest industry of Porto Rico, as of many other of 
the West Indies. Charcoal is the fuel most generally used, particu- 
larly for domestic purposes. It is the only fuel of the poorer classes 
in the cities and is still in use to a great extent among the better 
classes also. Generally speaking, the charcoal is of exceedingly poor 
quality and small size. Some is scarcely larger than pea coal. Such 
stuff, the good and the bad indiscriminately, sells in San Juan for 
as high as 25 cents a can.^ A sack holding about 2 bushels sells for 
from $1 to $1.25.3 

The manufacturing part of the industry is carried on in a crude 
and haphazard way. All sizes of material, even to brushwood and 
small limbs scarcely one-half inch thick, and all kinds of wood are 
fired in the same heap. Because of its crookedness the wood is cut 
into short lengths — 4 to 6 inches. The kilns are of poor and crude 
construction, and the fire control consequently is ineffective. Too 
rapid combustion is thus apt to occur and great waste results through 
the complete consumption of part of the wood, or incomplete com- 
bustion may leave some of the wood only partially carbonized, which 
renders the product very variable in burning and heating qualities. 

The sources of supply are numerous. Most of the material comes 
from the clearing of land for agricultural use, but the mangrove 
swamps and the south coast hills furnish considerable. In some 
instances the charcoaling is done by contract with the bona-fide 
owners of the land, especially of land being cleared for the cultivation 
of sugar cane. In this case the large material is frequently cut and 
sold at from $1 .50 to $2 a ton ^ to the " central." The charcoal opera- 

1 The census (1910) reports 8 establishments classed as "lumber and timber products" industries, having 
atotalpersormel of 171— 26 proprietors, 22 clerks, and 123 laborers. These industries represent a combined 
capital of $113,392 and handle a product valued at $268,719, of which $90,301 is the value added by manu- 
facture. 

' Since the advent of the automobile the 5-gallon gasoline containers have become very plentiful and 
have been adapted to a variety of uses, one of which is as a unit of measure for the retailing of charcoal. 

' A small amount of charcoal is brought in from Santo Domingo, but only one instance is known to the 
writer of any being brought from the mainland. The sale of this, however, under adverse market condi- 
tions yielded a slight profit and shows not only the high price of the native product but the possibility of 
developing a successful and profitable competition with it. 

* The wood is thrown loosely into the car and is of varying lengths and frequently crooked. Under these 
conditions a car having a capacity of 1,000 cubic feet weighed 22,548 pounds, or about 22 J pounds per cubic 
foot. Making an allowance for the condition of the wood in the car, 150 cubic feet seems a fair equivalent 
of a properly cut and stacked cord. On this basis a cord would weigh about 3,400 pounds. 



Bui. 354, U. S. Dept. of , 



Plate IX. 



H^HE^^^^^^BSK^B>^S!^S^^^HIi^^.<< L'/'^'^^H 


m 


^^^■^^^^^K^mm 




c 







O ^2 




Bui. 354, U. S. Dept. cf Agr 



Plate X. 





FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 45 

tor may be given the material for clearing up the land or he may pay 
the owner a stipulated amount per sack of charcoal yielded. 

Often the charcoaling is not even done '^by your leave," since it is 
an adjunct to ''conuco" farming. When the squatter finds a piece 
of woodland which he wants to cultivate he may first cut such mate- 
rial as is suitable and make charcoal from it, or a charcoal burner 
may cut over a piece of land for charcoal without having an intention 
of subsequent cultivation. The public lands have by this process 
been largely despoiled of their forest growth. 

Lumbering. 

As an organized business lumbering hardly exists at all. Probably 
the nearest approach to it is in the Sierra de Luquillo, where a few 
lumbermen or woodcutters are to be found. They own their own 
implements and log on contract > that is to say, if any one wants a 
piece of ausubo for an ox yoke or bull cart or any other special mate- 
rial these men will go in and get it out for him. Their method of 
lumbering is a very gradual process of culling. Having found a suit- 
able tree, they fell it and cut it into logs of the desired length. The 
log is squared with an adz, then a knob is fashioned at one end, to 
which a rope may later be made fast to drag it out by. Finally the 
log is placed on a rudely constructed scaffolding of poles erected on a 
hillside and sawed by the world-old pit-saw method. If they may be 
skidded directly from the pit, the planks are not sawed through the 
whole length of the log, but the log is left intact for a short distance 
back from the knob end to facilitate handhng. Otherwise each 
plank is entirely severed from the log and carried out by hand to a 
place accessible to oxen. There the separate planks are assembled 
as they were in the log, a rope is made fast to the knob, and they are 
skidded the rest of the way to their destination or to where they can 
be loaded on a cart. The smaller logs and pole and post timbers are 
skidded singly or sometimes several at a time. 

Skidding is accomphshed by oxen on slopes where such work seems 
impossible. Grade appears to receive scant consideration, the skid- 
ding trails in places descending straight down the slope. Frequently 
these are hollowed out, whether intentionally or by the wearing of 
the logs is not evident, and stakes are driven at the side, where they 
turn sharply around a shoulder or follow obUquely down the hillside. 
After a time erosion supplements the wearing of the logs and the 
trails become so deep in places that they have to be abandoned. 

Wood- WORKING Industries. 

With this system of lumbering there is, of course, no need for 
sawmills.^ What few mills there are — ^located principally in the 

1 riinter (see Bibliography) reported one water sawmill on the island in 1830 nearCamuy. 



46 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

seaport cities, San Juan, Mayaguez, and Ponce — resaw American 
lumber. Some of these carry a small stock of native logs which they 
saw on order for special work. 

One of the largest manufactories on the island, located near San 
Juan, is devoted to tlie making of cigar boxes. The stock, cedro (71), 
for this factory is entirely imported, in large measure if not wholly, 
from Cuba. It comes in strips already cut to the proper thickness, 
namely, ^ inch and j-q inch. The annual consumption amounts to 
about 2,000,000 superficial feet, or something less than 1,000,000 feet 
b. m. A box of the size to hold 50 cigars contains about 1^ square 
feet of material. 

The trunk and match industries use considerable wood, but it is 
all imported. Furniture and other cabinet work and novelties, of 
which very little is produced, are to a large extent the product of 
hand labof. Native woods are« almost exclusively used. The 
furniture is very excellently made, and, though of a style some- 
what different and considerably more ornate than our furniture, is 
very attractive and pleasing. It especially brmgs out the beauties 
of the native woods, which, though practically unknown to com- 
merce, possess very desirable qualities of both grain and color. 
The native furniture trade is unfortunately doomed to extinction, 
because of its inability to meet the competition of cheap machine-made 
furniture from the mainland. 

FOREST PRODUCTS. 

The forests of Porto Rico yield a large variety of gums, resins, 
fibers, coloring and dyeing materials, edible fruits, and the like, hav- 
ing a decided commercial value if systematically developed. Some 
of these are well-known articles of commerce, as anatto, fustic, and 
other coloring and dyeing materials. Although none are produced in 
sufficient quantity for export, most of them are to be found on sale 
in the public markets. It is doubtful if the various products and 
their still more varied uses have ever been completely catalogued. 
Many of the more important uses are given in Appendix 1, where, 
however, the wood uses are the ones chiefly considered. 

FOREST PROBLEMS. 

Every acre of land best suited, either temporarily or for all time, 
to forest production should be devoted to that use. Every acre of 
land around the headwaters and along the banks of the rivers on 
which a forest cover would offer a protection superior to the present 
cover against erosion and soil wastage should be forested. All for- 
ested lands and those to be forested should be so managed as to yield 
a maximum of the products most needed by the local communities 
and industries. The forestry program should also provide suitable 



FOEESTS OF PORTO RICO. 47 

protection to the birds, live stock, and even man himself in the form, 
respectively, of small groves at intervals throughout the cane and 
tobacco districts, open cover in the pastures, and shade trees along 
the roadsides. Of scarcely less importance than these phases of the 
practice of forestry are painstaking investigations and a thorough 
campaign of educational propaganda. 

Planting. 

The planting of new forests is by far the most important, in point 
of magnitude at least, of the forestry work to be done in Porto Rico. 
Tree planting figured rather conspicuously in the early Spanish laws. 
"Law First "1 of ''Laws of the Indies," which concerned the allot- 
ment of lands to settlers, provided ''two 'huebras' of land for 
orchard, and eight for planting other trees," while "Law Eleventh" 
promulgated by Emperor Charles in 1536, provided even more explic- 
itly for the planting of ' ' willows and trees," so that in addition to other 
purposes "it be possible to use the timber (wood) which might be 
necessary." As the Indies were generally well wooded, these laws, 
it may reasonably be inferred, were merely Spanish laws devised to 
meet conditions in Spain and more or less perfunctorily extended over 
the new possessions. Certain it is that they were never given force or 
effect in Porto Rico. 

The need for reforesting the headwaters of the streams has aheady 
been mentioned. In most cases, however, protection can be as well 
supplied by the forests managed from the standpoint of wood pro- 
duction. It will not often be necessary to refrain from any cutting 
whatever. A system of harvesting the wood crop which will expose 
the soil on the steep slopes as little as possible to the unbroken force 
of the sun, wind, and rain, will usually be sufficient. For planting 
work along the streams to prevent the banks from washing, it may be 
necessary to adopt special material, such as bamboo. But with 
proper «are even this could be harvested without impairing its useful- 
ness as a soil binder. 

In planting for the production of a wood crop the first consideration 
is, what products are most needed. Many would plant mahogany, 
ebony, rosewood, and all the other valuable cabinet and dye woods 
solely because they are valuable. Some time in the future it may be 
good forestry to try producing these woods for export, but that time 
will not come until the virgin supply of Santo Domingo and other 
coiuitries is much nearer exhaustion and the growth quahties of these 
woods is much better known than now. In the meantime the home 
market is urgently in need of attention ; its requirements are known, 
and it can be profitably supplied. Those trees which will produce 
fuel wood in the greatest abundance, the shortest time, and the most 

I See p. 9. 



48 BULLETIN 354, IT. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

suitable quality should unquestionably be the ones most extensively 
planted. What the species are that wiU best fulfill those require- 
ments is now unknown and must be determined by experiment and 
investigation.^ The discovery of the best varieties of woods for the 
manufacture of charcoal is also of the utmost importance. 

Second only to the need for fuel is that for an increased supply of 
suitable woods for various native uses. At present the demand is 
more or less irregular and speciahzed. Particular kinds of wood have 
particular uses and there is practically no demand for wood for native 
house construction except for underpinning, sills, and the like. The 
advancement of civilization on the island will necessitate the improve- 
ment of housing conditions in the interest of public health, sanitation, 
and morality; and universal education through the public schools 
will inevitably set up a standard and a demand which will not tolerate 
present conditions. To meet this demand the properties of the vari- 
ous woods will have to be closely studied and very likely the intro- 
duction of some such species as the pine will be found desirable. 

There is at least one native industry of large proportions that might 
possibly produce its own box material through the practice of for- 
estry — the cigar industry. At present the cedro used by the Porto 
Rican trade comes almost exclusively from the virgin forests of Cuba. 
This wood is particularly prized for its lightness, clearness of grain, 
and strong yet pleasant aromatic odor. It is, of course, largely 
conjectural how far these properties would inhere in the wood of a 
planted growth. The cedro (71) is a rapid grower imder favorable 
conditions of soil and chmate. 

Undoubtedly many trees could be planted which would yield 
products of bark, leaf, or sap for use as the basis of new industries.^ 
The achiote might be set out on a steep hillside, several acres of it 
together. The gathering of the seed coats and the extraction of their 
coloring matter would furnish light labor for a number of persons at 
certain seasons of the year, if not the year round. Then there is the 

> One such species undoubtedly is the Acacia palida (41), stands of which, according to investigations of 
the Philippine Bureau of Forestry, will yield over 13 cords per acre in 2 to 3 years. It is splendidly adapted 
for the reforestation of grasslands wastes either as a permanent crop or as a pioneer and nurse crop for subse- 
quent plantations of more valuable but less hardy and aggressive species. It may also he planted to advan- 
tage on worn-out agricultural lands and, after one crop of firewood is harvested, the twigs and tops plowed 
into the soil as a green manure. (The author is indebted to Mr. H. M. Curran, formerly of the Philippine 
Bureau of Forestry, for calling his attention to the work done by that bureau and its published report 
concerning this tree, entitled " Ipil-Ipil— A Firewood and Reforestation Crop," by D . A. Matthews, Bulletin 
No. 13, Philippine Bureau of Forestry.) 

2 Dr. Seaman A. Knapp, mhis "Report on Investigations of the ,\gricultural Resources and Capabilities 
of Porto Rico" (Senate Doc. 171, 56th Cong., 2d sess.), emphasizes the need of new industries. He says: 
" The early establishment of a number of minor industries closely related to agriculture is of vital importance 
to future prosperity. The object of such industries is to give profitable employment to the wives and 
children of farm laborers, so that the earning ability of the home may be doubled, and in some cases quad- 
rupled. * ♦ * Manv philanthropic Porto Ricans suggested that the farm laborers on the coffee and 
tobacco plantations scattered upon the mountains * * * could never derive the full advantage of free 
education * * * until they were gathered into small villages and became amenable to society." 



Bui. 354, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate XI. 




■05 
O O 




Bui. 354, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 



Plate XII. 




FiQ. 1.— A Section of the Comerio-Barranquitas Road, Entirely Devoid of Shade 

OF Any Kind. 



HB 


■S^fil^H 


— r=^^ — ^8,*^ ■ 


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y ' 


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i 


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-— ■ , 






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,,■■-«■■' A^"* 


• .■ . ,,>■■.; ■>"• > ' ''"■'•' ■* 




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•"'■'^- ■•■taijr^^ 




■'?!' 


1 


■. "' 


- •fv:.4»^.^,.■*^^^^feg 


^ TjSlfe'iltr 


■ V 


r 


^* > _ 


^-tH 




t' 


r 










m 


\m 




l#il 


% 


WM 


iiMr"1 "*' ''' 




:P 


't?= 


f^^^«.S^*S^- 


_^!r 



F-27954A 

Fig. 2.— The Famous Military Road. 

This stretch of roadway just outside of CaRuas is attractively shaded 
by overarching flamboyan. 



IMPROVED ROADS. 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 49 

emajagua, wliich might be planted as a soil protector and yet be so 
managed as to yield a regular amount of fiber and fagots each year. 
The poma rosa could be made to furnish a continuous supply of hoop 
material for baling tobacco, fruit boxes, and the like, as well as fagots. 
The growing and tapping of tabanuco for its resinous sap likewise has 
possibilities. These and many others, the bamboos especially, are 
worthy of careful study and consideration 

While recognizing the larger and more purely economic aspects of 
tree planting, it will not do to neglect esthetic and utihtarian con- 
siderations. No country can afford to be ugly or to neglect the 
comfort, both physical and mental, of its own or a visiting people. 
The roads of the island, particularly those through the lowland 
country, are usually hot and unattractive for lack of proper shade. 
There are some notable exceptions to this, but their occurrence serves 
rather to heighten the discomfort after they are passed. Such a one 
is the avenue of flamboyan bordering the military road between 
Caguas and Cayey. The kind of tree is of nearly as much importance 
as the fact that there are trees at all. Thus the almacigo and jobo, 
to mention two of the most common, have little to recommend them 
for roadside planting, except their ease of propagation and rapidity 
of growth. In the open country, trees that are tall and carry their 
branches high on a straight, clean trunk offer little obstruction to the 
view or to the circulation of air, yet they protect the roadway during 
the midday hours from the beating sun, and relieve the monotony of 
cultivated fields and pastures. 

There is much concern about the scarcity of bird life in the cane 
country and the consequent prevalence of destructive insects. An 
occasional grove of trees would help this situation by furnishing the 
birds a refuge and nesting place; yet what few patches of woodland 
there are are constantly being cleaned up to get a few more square 
feet in cane.^ 

Systematic tree planting could be carried on in the pastures, even 
those which are actually utihzed for grazing. There are several of 
the leguminous trees the pods of which are very nutritious and very 

1 In this connection the followiag from a letter of the U. S. Biological Survey to the Board of Commis 
sioners of Agriculture published in its second annual report is of interest: 

" In connection with the increase of island liirds Mr. Wetmore suggests the great desirability of providing 
them with more shelter than they now have. The grackles and yellow-shouldered blackbirds, for instance- 
nest and roost in the palms. Can not the individual owners of plantations be sufficiently interested in 
the matter to plant royal palms along the roads leading through the cane fields? The island kingbirds 
appear to be very useful, and they need small perches from which to watch for insects. Bamboo planted 
along the streams and the drainage ditches would not only favor the three species mentioned above, but 
would also provide shelter from the sun for the green heron and the anis. For mocking birds, small brushy 
areas are essential, but these need not be of any great size, and if hUltops imfit for cane or other crops bo 
left and not denuded of brush they will answer well the purpose. 

"Mr. Wetmore further suggests that along the coast restrictions should be placed upon the total clearing 
of areas of mangroves by the charcoal burners, and special care should be taken not to disturb the rookeries 
of herons — the snowy, little blue, and little green species," 

21871°— Bull. 354— IS 4 



50 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

much sought after by stock. These trees, besides affording food and 
shade for the cattle and naturally enriching the soil and improving 
the grass crop, could be cut at intervals for fuel. 

Management. 

The problems in forest management arc those first of all which 
concern the protection of the present forests, such as the regulation 
of "conuco" farming, charcoal burning, and wood trespass in gen- 
eral, which alone will undoubtedly yield ample returns. Yet these 
little more than open the way to the real problems. The need for 
the improvement and conservative management of the mangrove 
has already been referred to. The insular lands, too, and to a large 
extent the privately owned lands which still remain forested, should 
not only be kept so but should be improved under systematic man- 
agement. The nature of such management will depend on a variety 
of circumstances. Its fundamental purpose, however, will be to 
favor the growth and reproduction of those trees best suited to the 
needs which the particular forest is intended to serve. If the most 
suitable species do not occur in the original growth, it will be neces- 
sary to introduce one or more of them by planting; but careful inves- 
tigation will usually discover among even those commonly thought 
to be useless quahties of excellence undreamed of. 

Investigation. 

In a country like Porto Rico, where so little is known about the 
native trees, their habits and requirements, it would be folly to 
ignore the needs for scientific study and research. The forest crop 
grows and matures comparatively slowly, and it accordingly takes 
several years for a mistake to become fully manifest. It thus will 
not do to go ahead bhndly and plant large areas with httle-known 
species, to find later that they are not suitable. Provision for inves- 
tigative work is therefore indispensable to the practice of forestry. 

Education. 

One can not expect those who aU their Uves have been engaged in 
wasting and destroying what has come to them without exertion to 
see unaided the advantages of turning about and putting exertion 
into its production. Educational work of a very thorough and 
earnest sort is necessary to induce a people to support a tree-planting 
or other forestry campaign because usually the benefits are either 
obscure and indirect or are obtainable only by a future generation. 

There are many educational means by which forestry can be car- 
ried to the people. The pubhc-school system is, of course, one of the 
first and most effective means to be considered. Then the more ad- 
vanced thinkers may be formed into forestry associations for dis- 
cussion and propaganda, and others may be reached through popular 
pubhcations, lectures, and the press. 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 51 

Already a considerable interest is manifested by different branches 
of the insular government in improving forest conditions. Several of 
the sugar companies are also interested in planting up waste lands 
and in the open planting of leguminous trees in their bull pastures to 
provide green forage, improve the grass crop, and furnish shade for 
the stock. They are also planting for ornament about their grounds, 
along the roads, and bordering the cane fields. 

INSULAR FOREST POLICY. 

It must be evident that a program wliich has for its fundamental 
purpose the improvement of conditions affecting both directly and 
indirectly the interests of a whole people can not be left to private 
initiative. It must be undertaken and directed by the insular gov- 
ernment itself. An efficient and well-equipped insular forest admin- 
istration ^ should, therefore, be provided, and a forest pohcy be estab- 
lished which would make effective the following work : A campaign of 
education, investigative work in forestry, the care and management 
of the most suitable parts of the insular domain as insular forests, 
and cooperation with private individuals, municipalities, and others 
interested in the practice of forestry. The practice of forestry and 
forest experimentation is a distinctly long-time operation. In 
scarcely less than 10 years are any practical results forthcoming, 
unless an experiment results in conclusive and disastrous failure. 
Only when fuel wood or other small-sized material is the object of 
production can any conclusive results be obtained even in 10 years. 
For larger products 30 or more years will ordinarily be required. 
The necessity for taking a long look in advance and the desirabihty 
of fixing by permanent legislation the organization and scope of the 
work are thus apparent, stabihty, permanence, and continuity being 
indispensable conditions. 

In weighing the advisability of taking such a step, the conditions 
and tendencies of the world supply of forest products can not be 
overlooked. The time is not far distant when the countries which 
produce the great bulk of the world's supply of the common economic 
woods wiU cease to have any considerable amount of timber to 
export. In anticipation of these conditions many of the producing 
countries have seriously set about making ' definite provisions for 
the future. If countries like the United States find it necessary to 
undertake the organized practice of forestry as a measure of self- 
protection, how much more necessary is it for Porto Rico to do so ? 
Tlie Phihppines, too, maintain a technical forest organization, which 

1 Previous attempts to provide a forest administration were made in the Regulations for the Payment 
of Fees to the Technical Personnel of Public Works, Mines, Forests, and Telegraphs of the Island of 
Porto Rico, issued 1879, which provided, among other things, for the "inspection of forests for the forma- 
tion of plans for their use." The Political Code for Porto Rico of 1902 (sec. 134) provides for "a chief of 
lands and forests which shall have charge of all matters relating to lands and forests.'; Neither of these 
Jaws, however, jdelded any tangible results. 



52 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

not only cares for their vast resources, but is undertaking the reforest- 
ing of tho grassy wastes which have resulted from the same destruc- 
tive agricultural practices that have devastated the Porto Rican 
forests, "conuco" cultivation. Hawaii for the last 10 years has 
maintained an active forest organization which has given special 
attention to watershed protection, and, although one-fourth of the 
total land area is still forested and largely permanently reserved 
and carefully protected, has done much forest planting besides. In 
fact, forest planting has been carried on by private enterprise in 
Hawaii for nearly a generation. 

There is no country of aU of these more favorably situated than 
Porto Rico to undertake the practice of forestry. Local market 
conditions can hardly be equaled anywhere. The forest soils are 
generally well isolated, and well and centrally located, and are thus 
admirably adapted to serve easily and at a minimum of expense 
the general needs of the surrounding population, at the same time 
affording protection to the headwaters of the more than a thousand 
streams of the island. 

Needed Legislation.' 

Laws concerning the forests and trees are no new thing to Porto 
Rico. Mention has previously been made of the early land laws, 
which required tree planting as a condition of the grant; of the 
"Law of Waters," providmg for the study of the watersheds which 
it was advisable to keep wooded; of the "regulations" of 1879 
concerning pubhc works, which provided an apparently elaborate 
forest admmistration intrusted with "the inspection of forests for 
the formation of plans for their use"; and lastly to the provision in 
the Pohtical Code of 1902 for a "chief of lands and forests." It is 
not known that these various works and officials ever existed except 
on paper, but certainly no tangible results from them have come 
down to the present day. 

More recently, by the act of March 9, 1911, the legislative assem- 
bly created a Board of Commissioners of Agriculture ^ which has 
interested itself in forestry. The supervisory machinery is thus 
already in existence and its interest in the work already aroused. 

1 A forestry law was drafted along the lines discussed in these pages for inclusion herein as an appendix. 
It was, however, omitted as the bulletin was going to press and referred instead to the committee recently 
created by joint resolution [J. R. No. 3, approved April 3, 191G] of the legislative assembly "for the study 
of the forestry needs of Porto Rico." This committee is composed of the President of the Board of Com- 
missioners of Agriculture, the Commissioner of the Interior, the Commissioner of Education, and the 
Special Agent in Charge of the Porto Rico Agricultural Experiment Station at Mayaguez. 

* The president ex officio is a head of department designated by the governor. Of the other six members 
one must be a member of the House of Delegates and be designated by the speaker, while each of the 
commercial associations — Associacion de Puerto Rico, Associacion de Productores de Azucar, Associacion 
de Productores de Cafe, Associacion de Productores de Tabaco, and Associacion de Productores de Frutas— 
nominate one of the five remaining commissioners. 



FORESTS OP PORTO RICO. 53 

It is now only necessary to have the designation and powers of the 
board ^ extended to include the subject of forestry. 

The law giving the board charge and direction of forestry work 
should also provide the teclinical machinery for carrying it into 
effect. A provision of first importance is one creating the position 
of insular forester and defining the qualifications for this office so as 
to insure the work being developed under a forester not only of 
hberal technical training but of practical experience as well. It is 
also essential to make the office strictly nonpohtical. This. can best 
be done by setting a high standard of technical quaUfications and 
making the incumbent subject to removal only upon his failure to 
measure up to the standard set or because of improper conduct. 
The position would thus come virtually under the classified civil 
service, as is the case in the Federal Forest Service, The insular for- 
ester would have immediate charge, directi(?n, and control of all for- 
estry matters, subject to the supervision and approval of the board. 

Much requires to be done in a scientific way to learn the distribu- 
tion, properties, and habits of the various trees suitable for forest 
planting and management. It would therefore be advisable to pro- 
vide for the establishment of a forest experiment station. Here, in 
addition to other work, forest tree nurseries could be maintained 
and experimental tree planting done. In connection with such a 
station an arboretum might be developed where all the different 
trees of the island could be set out. Such an experimental garden 
would be of immense educational value. The data and experience 
of the station staff should be made available to the public through 
publications and lectures and cooperation with landowners in 
carrying on forestry work. 

The insular government has at different places scattered over the 
island tracts of vacant land, much of which is now idle and unproduc- 
tive, and generally located in out-of-the-way places. Some of it 
wiU always be most profitably utihzed for growing timber. It would 
accordingly be extremely desirable to have all of these tracts carefully 
examined with the. view to determining their adaptabihty to forest 
or agricultural use. As much as is unquestionably best suited to the 
growth of a forest cover or is not now available for other uses could 
very profitably be reserved for demonstration and experiment, 
permanently or otherwise as circumstances might warrant. Lands 
so reserved might very properly be constituted Insular Forests, and 
the power to set them aside by proclamation be reposed in the 
governor. After their creation they ought to be subject to the 
exclusive control of the insular forest service, which would have 

1 An amendment would also be desirable providing for a longer term for each of the five commissioners 
nominated by the different associations, the terms to be so arranged that not more than two would expire 
in any one year. This would insure a greater stability and continuity in the controlling policy and pro- 
vide a long enough term to make it worth while for a member to familiarize himself with the work of the 
board. 



54 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

the right to make and enforce all necessary niles and regulations 
for their protection and management, and to sell or lease under 
limited permit any products or uses. 

In justice to a municipahty in which an insular forest might be 
located, provision ought to be made that it receive a certain per- 
centage of any revenue of such forest as recompense for loss in 
taxable income caused by the presence of tax-free government land. 
This method has been adopted by the Federal Government in 
reimbursing States on account of National Forests. A second method 
which aims to accomplish the same purpose and is now in effect in 
some of the States is for the State to pay to the county or town in 
which a State forest may be located a fixed sum annually, generally 
from 1 to 4 cents an acre, in place of taxes exempted from these lands. 

During the first few years the work of the insular forest service 
would yield only such revenue as could be reaUzed from the sale of 
seeds or seedlings which it seemed desirable to the board to dispose of. 
After the organization of the insular forests there would be some 
revenue from leases and other special uses, and later on a regular 
income from the mature timber. During the formative period, at 
least, it would be extremely desirable to cover into the insular 
treasury all revenues from forestry sources, to be constituted a 
special fund available for expenditure for any forestry purpose. 

It is desirable to make the law as comprehensive as possible at 
the outset in order to outline in advance the full scope and significance 
of the work. The initial annual appropriations need, however, 
provide for only the few essentials required to get the work under way. 
An appropriation of $5,000 should be sufficient to cover the salary 
of the forester, his necessary field and office expenses, and the hire of 
any assistants he may need for nursery and investigative work. 
When it comes to establishing the experiment station, a special 
building and equipment fund of $10,000 will be necessary and an 
additional maintenance fund of $3,000 annually. 

There are other considerations than those concerned strictly 
with forestry which merit legislative attention. The regulation of 
the indiscriminate and nomadic cropping of ground provisions and 
the equally indiscriminate practice of charcoal burning are of first 
importance. The most permanent and logical means are education 
and the definite establishment of land titles. A cadastral survey 
of the island has been repeatedly urged by the principal government 
officials, both present and past, who have come in contact with the 
land situation in any of its phases. The difficulties in levying taxes 
and in knowing what are and what are not government lands have 
already been mentioned. The further difficulty, and the one with 
which we are particularly concerned here, is the enforcing of the 
poHce powers against unlawful trespass on both pubhc and private 
property. It is obvious that it must be known with certainty who 



FORESTS OF PORTO RICO. 55 

owns land before it becomes possible to enforce trespass laws with 
any degree of assurance. The establishment of the bounds of each 
man's lawful property by survey would remove this present difficulty 
and many others. 

A temporary expedient to meet the "oonuco" and the charcoal 
situation is to require a license. In the case of the ''conuco" it 
would only be possible to carry out a definite plan of licenses or 
permits with respect to the public lands. In the case of charcoal 
burning the method of regulation employed in Martinique offers a 
favorable means of control. This law^ provides in brief that before 
a man can manufacture any charcoal he shall declare his intention 
at the mayor's office and state also where he is to make it and in what 
quantity. The vendor of charcoal other than the manufacturer 
must also have a license. To secure such license the vendor must 
present a certificate from the mayor showing that the manufacturer 
has complied with the requirements of manufacture. Parties trans- 
porting charcoal for their own use or that of another must have a 
certificate from the police or mayor giving the residence of the person 
from whom it was bought, his license number, and the number and 
residence of the buyer. Retailers are prohibited from buying their 
supplies in other than the regular markets of the island, and appro- 
priate penalties are provided for violating any of these provisions. 
Such a law as this properly enforced in Porto Rico would go a long 
way toward preventmg indiscriminate charcoal burning. 

THE LUQUILLO NATIONAL FOREST. 

Upon the transfer of the island to American sovereignty the Span- 
ish Crown lands in the Sierra de Luquillo ^ became the property of 
the Federal Government. Originally supposed to aggregate some 
40,000 acres ' and to embrace a considerable amount of practically 
virgin forest land which was rapidly being cut and destroyed, these 
lands were constituted the Luquillo Forest Reserve (now National 
Forest), by presidential proclamation January 17, 1903.* Recently 
completed siu-veys covering all but a smaU part of the central moun- 
tain area, however, indicate a reduction in acreage to not over 15,000 
acres, including probably the entire "hurricane hardwood" type. 
Thus the timber producing possibilities of a considerable portion of 
the area are not very promismg, judging from present knowledge of 
conditions. Nevertheless, for the present at least, these lands will 
be retained in public ownership and whatever forest growth there 

may be on them will be protected. 

— — ■ — ■ ^ * ^ — — — — 

1 A digest of this law has been referred to the committee mentioned in the note, p. 52. 

* For forest description of this region see p. 31. 

* Based on official records in the archives of the Division of Public Lands, Department of the Interior, 
Porto Rico. 

* The recommendation that this be done was made by Dr. Walter H. Evans, Chief of Division of Insular 
Stations, States Relations Service, U. S. Department of Agriculture, while the exploratory survey upon 
which the boundary proclamation was based was made by Mr. O . W . Barrett, at that time Botanist of the 
Porto Rico Agricultural Experiment Station. 



APPENDIX I. 



TREES OF PORTO RICO. 

By W. D. Brush, Scientific Assistant, and Louis S. Murphy, Forest Examiner, Forest 
Service; and C. D. Mell, formerly Assistant Dendrologist, Forest Service. 

INTRODUCTORY NOTE. 

Mucli has been published concerning the flora of Porto Rico, yet little of it is avail- 
able for general use, particularly concerning the trees. Hill in his bulletin on the For- 
ests of Porto Rico (Bui. 25, Forest Service) listed some 60 different kinds of trees, and 
the woods of 15 of these were described by Sud worth. The work of Gifford and Bar- 
rett (Bui. 54, Forest Service, "The Luquillo Forest Reserve, Porto Rico") has already 
been referred to. 

As to arrangement and nomenclature particularly, the principal reliance in preparing 
this present compilation has been Ignatius Urban's Symbolse Antillanae Seu Funda- 
menta Florae Indiae Occidentalis. Scientific equivalents have been given only in 
cases where they appear to be in well-established popular usage, as, for example, Roy- 
stonia borinquena for Oreodoxa caribaea. 

Acknowledgment is also due to the authors of the above-mentioned Forest Service 
bulletins. Cook and Collins (Economic Plants of Porto Rico), W. Harris (The Timbers 
of Jamaica), John T. Rae (West Indian Timbers), and numerous other authorities for 
descriptive data concerning the uses of the wood and other products of the trees listed. 
Special acknowledgment is due to Miss J. S. Peyton for painstaking work in the prepa- 
ration of the index and comparing the spelling of both common and scientific names 
in the final copy of the manuscript with the original authorities. 

The microscopic descriptions of wood structure of the species marked with an 
asterisk, thus (*8. Chlorophora tinctoria) are based on examination by Messrs. Mell and 
Brush of wood samples in the Forest Service wood collection. 

It has been the intention of the authors to include all erect woody plants which 
attain a height of 15 feet or over, including the tree cactuses and opuntias. The 
heights and diameters, it should be remembered, represent the extreme sizes which 
the species have been reported to attain, and are thus often considerably larger than 
those commonly met with. For convenience in reading, the technical wood 
descriptions, the less important species, and all but the most common exotic spe- 
cies have been subordinated to the general text. Little-known species and species 
and genera of very minor importance have been combined where possible and sub- 
ordinated into notes, yet for completeness have been included. 

Following is a synopsis showing the families represented, 57 in all, and the number 
of genera and species in each family. The genera total 172 and the species 292: 



Family. 


Genera. 


Species. 


Family. 


Genera. 


Species. 


Family. 


Genera. 


Species. 


Palmae 


4 
1 
1 
6 
1 
1 
1 
4 
6 
1 
1 
1 
2 
22 
1 
4 
2 
3 
5 


5 
1 
1 
9 
8 
1 
2 
9 

17 
1 
2 
1 
3 

30 
2 

14 
2 
3 
9 


Malpighiacese 

Euphorbiacese.. . 
Anacardiaceae. . . 

Aquifoliaceae 

Celastraceae 

Staphyleacese.... 

Sapindaceae 

Sabiacese 

Rhamnaceae 

Elaeocarpaceae... 

Malvaceae 

Bombacaceae — 

Sterculiacese 

TernstrcEmiacese 

Guttiferse 

Bixaceae 


1 

9 

2 
3 

4 


2 
11 
5 
2 
1 
1 
6 
2 
2 
1 
3 
»• 
2 
5 
5 
1 
2 
8 
8 


Thymelaeaceee.. 
Rhizophoraceae. . 
Combretacese — 

Myrtacefe 

Melastomataceae. 

Araliacese 

Myrsinaceae 

Sapotacese 

Ebenaceae 

Symplocaceae — 
Styracaceae 


1 
2 
5 
5 
4 
2 
1 
7 
2 
1 
1 
1 
2 
1 
5 
3 
11 
1 
1 


2 


Juglandaceae 

Ulmaceae 

Moraceae 

Polygonaceae 

Nyctaginaceae... 

Magnoliaceae 

Anonaceae 

Lauraceae 

Hernandaceae.... 
Cappardiacese... 
BruneUiaceae — 


2 
5 
13 
10 
3 
2 
17 
2 
5 
1 
1 


Apocynaceae 

Barraginaceae... . 

Verbenaceae 

Bignoniaceae 

Rubiaceae 

Caprifoliaceae — 
Gramineae 


2 


Leguminoseae... 
Zygophyllaceae.. 


6 
6 
6 


Simarubaceae 

Burseraceae 

Meliaceao 


Winteraceae 

Flacourtiaceae. .. 
Cactaceae 


16 

1 
1 



56 



TREES OF PORTO RICO. 



57 



INDEX TO TREES OP PORTO RICO. 



No. 

Abejuelo 100 

Abelluello. 100 

Acacia Amarilla 39 

Acacia nudiflora 40 

Acacia nudosa 40 

Acacia pjalida 41 

Acacia riparia 40 (note) 

Acajon 74 

Acaju 86 

Acana 139, 145 

Aceite, Palo de 68 

Aceitillo 66 

Aceituna 148 

Aceituna Blanca 148 

Aceituna Cimarrona 148 

Aceituna, Palo de 80 (note) 

Achiote 115 

Achiotillo 81, 100 

Achote 115 

Achras zapota 138 

Acrista monticola 3 

Acrodiclidium salicifolium 30 

Adenanthera pavonina 42 

Aguacate 25 

Aguacate Cimarron 29 

Aguacatillo 99, 100 

Aguaytardn 100 

Albizzia lebbech 39 

Alchornea latifolia 81 

Alchorneopsis portoricensis 81 

Aleh'-.. 151 

Aleli Cimarron 151 

Aleurites moluccana 82 

Aleurites triloba (gee 82). 

Algarrobo 45 

Alilaila 73,73 (note) 

Alligator Apple 22 

Alligator Pear 25 

Almdcigo 70 

Almendra 123 

Almendrillo 34 

Almendron 34, 123, 142 

Almond, Indian 123 

Aloe Wood 153 (note) 

Amomis caryophyllata 129 

Amomis caryophyllata var. grisea.. 129 

(note) 

Amor Platonico 39 

Amortiguado 78 

Amyris balsamifera 64 (note) 

Amyris maritima 64 

Anacardiace^, XXII (85-89) 

Anacardium ocddentale 86 

Anastaaio, Palo de 75 

Anatto 115 

Andira jamaicensis 58 

Angelin 58 

An6n 22, 23, 24 

Anona montana 23 (note) 

Anona muricata 21 

Anona palustris 22 

Anona reticulata 23 (note) 

Anona squamosa 23 

Anonace^, VIII (18-24) 



No. 

Anonde Escamas 23 

Antirrhoea coriacea 167 

Antirrhoea obtusifolia 166 

Antirrhoea sintenisii 167 (note 1) 

Apocynace^, LI (151, 152) 

Aquifoliace^, XXIII (90, 91) 

Aralia arborea (see 135). 

Araliace^, XLIV (135, 136) 

Arbol Madre 59 

Ardisia glauciflora 137 

Ardisia guadalupensis 137 (note) 

Arnatta 115 

Arroyo 99 

Artocarpus communis (see 9) . 

Artocarpus incisa 9 

Ausu 130 

Ausu Guayavita 129 

Ausubo ■ 141, 145 

Auzu --:---.-; 129 

Avicennia nitida 157 

Avispillo 26, 26 (note), 28, 78, 93 

Avocado 25 

Avocate 25 

Ayua - 61 

Bdculo 53 

Badula 137 (note) 

Balata 145 

Balsa Wood 107 

Balsam Fig 114 

Balsam Tree 114 

Balsamo 154 

Bambu 172 

Bambusa vulgaris 172 

Bamboo. . . .' 172 

Barbasco 116 

Bartaballi 138 (note) 

Bastard Cabbage-bark 58 

Bastard Cedar 110 

Bauhinia Icappleri 47 

Bay Berry Tree 129 

Bay Rum Tree 129 

Bergamota 65 (note( 

Bertero - 160 (note) 

Bignoniace^, LIV (158-161) 

Biji 115 

Birch, West Indian 7o 

Bixa 115 

Bixa orellana 115 

Bixace^, XXXV (115) 

Black Lancewood 18 

Black Mangrove 157 

Blue Mahoe 102 

Bois de Lait 151 

Bois Grisgris 126 

Bois Immortelle 59 

Bois Liege 107 

Boje 167 

Boje Quina 167 

Bombacace^, XXXI. . ^ . . . . (105-108) 

BoRRAGINACEiB, LII (153) 

Boxwood, West Indian 159 

Boyo, Palode 59 

Bread Fruit 9 



68 



BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



No. 

Bread Nut 9 

Brigueta Naranjo 90 

Brunellia comocladifolia 33 

Brunelliace^, XII (33) 

Bucago 59 

Bucare 59 

Bucaro 126 

Buchenavia capitata 124 

Bucida buceras 126 

Bullet Tree 138 

Bullock's Heart 23 (note) 

Burra Cimarron, Teta de 35 

Burra, Teta de 35, 144 

Burro 17 (note), 32, 32 (note) 

Burro Blanco 32 

Burro Prieta, Palo de 32 (note) 

Bursera gummifera (see 70). 

Bursera simaruba 70 

BUR.SERACE^, XVIII (68-70) 

Butter Pear 25 

Byrsonima lucida 77 

Byrsonima spicata 76 

Cabbage Tree 58 

Cabbage-bark, Bastard 58 

Cabo de Hacha 75 

Cabra, Palo de ' 6 

Cacaillo 27, 99, 101 

Cacao 108 

Cacao Bobo 99 

Cacao Motilla 101 

Cacao Otillo 101 

Cacao Roseta 101 

Cachimbo 152 

Cactace^, XXXVIII (120) 

Cafe 168 

Caf6 Macho 168 

Cafeillo 80, 80 (note), 119, 170 

Caf eillo Cimarron 119 

Cafetillo 119 

Caguani 141 

Caimitillo 140, 144 (note) 

Caimito 143 

Caimito de Perro 144 (note) 

Caimito Morado 143 

Caimito Verde 144 (note) 

Cainito 143 

Cajuil 86 

Calabash 161 

Calambrenas 15 (note) 

Callicarpa ampla 154 (note) 

Calocarpum mammosum 138 (note) 

Calophyllum calaba 113 

Calycogonium hiflorum 134 ^note 2) 

Calycogonium squamulosum.. . 134 (note 2) 

Calypthranthes sintenisii 131 

Camasey 134, 134 (note) 

Camasey Blanco 134 (note 1) 

Camasey Colorado 134 Tnote 2) 

CamasQj^ de Costilla 134 (note 1) 

Camasey de Oro 134 (note 2) 

Camasey de Paloma 134 (note 2) 

Cambr6n 163 

Campeche 50 

Campeche, Palo de 50 

Canafistula 48 



No. 

Caflafistula Cimarrona 49 

Candela, Palo de 118 

Candle Wood 69 

Candleberry Tree 82 

Candlenut 82 

Canela 25 (note), 27, 30 

Canelillo 30 

(^anelon 27 

Caoba 72 

Cap4 153,155 

Capd Amarillo 155 

Capd Blanca 155 

Capd Cimarron 153 (note) 

Capd de Sabdna 155 

Capa de Sabina, Palo de 155 

Capd Prieta 153 

Capd Rosa 154 (note) 

Capd Sabanero 155 

Cappardiace^, XI (32) 

Capparis jamaicensis 32 (note) 

Capparis portoricensis 32 

Caprifoliace^, LVI (171) 

Caracolillo 75, 117, 119 

Carubio 62 (note) 

Casearia arborea 119 

Casearia bicolor 119 

Casearia decandra 119 

Casearia guianensis 119 

Casearia sylvestris 119 

Cashew Tree 86 

Cassia fistula 48 

Cassia grandis 49 

Cassipourea alba 122 (note) 

Castana 9 

Cayur 22 

Cayures 22 

Ceboruquillo 94 

Cecropia peltata 12 

Cedar, Bastard 110 

Cedar, Cigar-box 71 

Cedar, Spanish 71 

Cedar, West Indian 71 

Cedrela odorata 71 

Cedro 71 

Cedro Hembra 71, 93 

Cedro Macho 29, 81 

Cedro Prieto 89 

Ceiba 105 

Ceiba pentandra 105 

Celastrace^, XXIV (92) 

Cenizo 61 

Central American Oak 91 

Cereus peruvianus 120 

Cereus quadricostatus 120 

Cereus sivartzii (see 120). 

Cereus triangularis 120 

Cereus trigonus 120 

Cereza 119 

Cereza Amarilla 78 

Cereza Cimarrona 153 (note) 

Cerezas 78, 153 (note) 

Cerezo 117 

Cherimolia 23 

Chiflede Vaca 157 

China 65 

China Berry 73, 73 (note) 



TREES OF PORTO RICO. 



59 



No. 

China Dulce 65 

China, Naranja 65 

Chione venosa 167 (note 2) 

Chirimoya 23 

Chlorophora tinctoria 8 

Chrysophyllum argenteum 144 (note) 

Chrysophyllum bicolor 144 (note) 

Chrysophyllum cainito 143 

Chrysophyllum oliviforme 144 

Chrysophyllum paucifiorum . . . 144 (note) 

Chupa-callo 116 

Chupa Gallo 166 

Cichimbo, Palo de 170 

Cidra 65 (note) 

Cieneguillo 121, 130 

Cigar-box Cedar 71 

Cinnamodendron macranthum (see 

116). 

Ciralillo 99 

Ciruela 88 

Ciruela del Pais 88 

Citron 65 (note) 

Citrus aurantium 65 

Citrus bigaradia 65 (note) 

Citrus decumana 65 (note) 

Citrus hystrix subsp. acida 65 (note) 

Citrus Limetta 65 (note) 

Citrus limonum 65 (note) 

Citrus medica 65 (note) 

Githarexylum caudatum 154 (note) 

Citharexylum fruticosum 154 

Citharexylum quadrangulare (see 

154). 

Clammy Cherry 153 (note) 

Cleyera albopmiQiata Ill 

Clusia acuminata (see 114 note). 

Clusia krugiana 114 (note) 

Clusia rosea 114 

Cobana 44 

Cobana, Negra 44 

Cobano 44 

Coccoloba diversifolia 15 (note) 

Coccoloba grandifolia P 15 

Coccoloba laurifolia 15 (note) 

Coccoloba nivea 15 (note) 

Coccoloba obtusifolia 15 (note) 

Coccoloba rugosa ^3 

Coccoloba urbaniana 15 (note) 

Coccoloba uvifera 14 

Coco 4 

Coco Pakn 4 

Coco, Palma de '4 

Coconut 4 

Cocorron 92 

Cocos nucifera 4 

Cocotero 4 

Coffea arabica 168 

Coffee 168 

Cojoba 38 (note), 40, 43 

Cojobana 38 (note), 40, 43 

Cojobillo 43 

Cojobo 43 

Colubrinaferruginosa 100 

^Colubrina reclinata 100 (note) 

COMBRETACE^, XLI (123-127) 

Gonocarpv^ erecta 125 



No. 

Contrevent 139 

Copal 68 

Coral Wood 59 

Coralitas 42 

Corazon 23 (note) 

Corazon Cimarron 22 

Corcho 16, 22, 107 

Cordia alliodora . 153 

Cordia borinquensis , 153 (note) 

Cordia collococca 153 (note) 

Cordia gerascanthoides (see 153). 
Cordia gerascanthus (see 153). 

Cordia nitida 153 (note) 

Cordia sebestena 153 (note) 

Cordia sulcata 153 (note) 

Cork Wood 22, 105, 107 

Coscorron 92 

Cotorrerillo 119 

Cotorro, Palo de 163 

Cotton Tree 105 

Courbaril 45 

Crescentia cujete 161 

Cresta de Gallo 53 

Cucubano 15 (note) 

Cucubano, Palo de 165 

Cuero de Sapo 90 

Cupania americana 96 

Cupania triquetra 96 

Cupei 114 (note) 

Cupeillo 114 (note) 

Cupey 114,114 (note) 

Cupey, Palo de 114 

Custard Apple 23 (note) 

Dacryodes excelsa 69 

Dajao 169 

Dajao, Palo de 169 

Daphnopsis caribaea 121 

Daphnopsis philippiana 121 

Didymopanax morototoni 136 

Diospyros ebenaster 147 

Dipholis salicifolia 142 

Dipholis sintenisiana 142 (note) 

Doncella #. 97, 97 (note) 

Doncella, Palo de 77 

Doncella, Sangre de 77 

Down Tree 107 

Drypetes alba 80 

Drypetes glauca 80 (note) 

Drypetes lateriflora 79 

East Indian Walnuj; 39 

Ebenace^, XLVII (146,147) 

Elaeocarpace^, XXIX (101) 

Elaeodendron xylocarpum var. co- 

rymbosum 92 

Elm, West Indian 109 

Emajagua 102 

Emajagua Brava 121 

Emajagua de Sierra 121 

Emajaguilla 103 

Eriodendron anfractuosum (see 105). 

Erythrina corallodendron 59 

Erythrina glauca 59 

Erythrina micropterix 59 

Escambron 163 



60 



BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



No. 

Espejuelo 142 (note) 

Espinillo, Palo de 163 

Espino 61,62 (note) 

Espino Rubial 61, 62 (note) 

Espinoso, Pinon 59 

Eugenia aeruginea 132 

Eugenia Jloribunda 132 (note) 

Eugenia jambos 133 

Eugenia sintenisii 132 (note^ 

Eugenia stahlii 132 (note) 

Eugenio 93 

EUPHORBIACE/E, XXI 78-84 

Exothea panniculata 98 

Fagara caribaea 62 (note) 

Fagara flava 62 

Fagara martinicensis 61 

Fagara monophylla 62 (note) 

Fagara trifoliata 62 (note) 

Faramea occidentalis 170 

Ficus laevigata var. lentiginosa sub- 

var. subcordata 11 

Ficus lentiginosa (see 11). 

Ficus nitiaa 11 (note) 

Ficus sintenisii 11 (note) 

Ficus stahlii 11 (note) 

Fiddle Wood 155, 156 

Fig, Balsam 114 

Flacourtiace^, XXXVII.... (117-119) 

Flamboyan 39, 51 

Flamboyan Blanco 47 

Flambovan Colorado 51 

Flame Tree 51 

Florida Plum 79 

Forte' Ventura . 56 

Frangipanic Blanc 151 

Fromager 105 

Fustic 8 

Gaita 75, 98 

GalUto 53 

Gallo, Cresta de 53 

Gangulin, Palo de 135 (note) 

Garrocha ^ *. 106 

Garrocha, Palo de 106 

Garrocho 106 

Gateado ■. 15 (note) 

Geiger Tree 153 (note) 

Genip Tree 95 

Genipa americana 164 

Genipe 95 

Geno 56 

Geno-Geno : 56 

Gia Mansa 119 

Gia Verde 119 

Cf-ilibcrtia arborea 135 

Gilibertia laurifolia 135 (note) 

Ginep 95 

Glateado 15 (note) 

GongoU, Palo de 122 (note) 

GongoUn 91 

Gramine^, LVII (172) 

Grana, Palma de 2 

Granadilla Cimarrona 134 (note 2) 

Granadillo 124 

Gfape Fruit 65 (note) 

Grayume 136 



No. 

Grayume Macho 136 

Grayumo 136 

Greenheart, West Indian 100 

Grosella 78 

Grosella Blanca 78 

Guaba 36 

Guacaran 98 

Gudcima 109, 110 

Gudcima del Norte 109 

Gudcima del Sur 110 

Guacimilla 6 

Guaita 75 

Guajacum officinale 60 

Guajacum sanctum 60 (note) 

Guamd 37 

Guandbana 21 

Guanavana Cimarrona 23 (note) 

Guango 38 

Guano 107 

Guara 94, 96 

Guara Blanca 96 

Guaraguaillo 74 (note) 

Guaraguao 74 

Guaraguao Macho 74 (note) 

Guarea ramiflora 74 (note) ' 

Guarea trichilioides 7 

Guarema 67 

Guarumbo 12 

Guasdvera 132 

Guatteria blainii 20 

Guava 36, 128 

Guayaba 128 

Guayabacoa 114 (note) 

Guayabac6n 130, 132 

Guayabota 132 (note), 147 

Guayabota-nispero 146 

Guayacdn 60 

Guayacdn Blanco 60 (note) 

Guayacancillo 60 (note) 

Guayarote 92 

Guayava 128 

Guayava Pera 128 

Guayavacon 75, 130 

Guayrote 99 

Guazuma guazuma (see 109). 

Guazuma Plum 109 

Guazuma tomentosa 110 

Guazuma ulmi/olia 109 

Guazymillo 6 

Guenepa 95 

Guettarda Icrugii 1 65 (note) 

Guettarda laevis 165 (note) 

Guettarda ovalifolia 165 (note) 

Guettarda scabra 165 

Guiana Plum 79 

Guitardn 100 

Guitarra, Palo de 154 

Gumbo Limbo 70 

GUTTIFER^, XXXIV (112-114) 

Hacana 139 

Hacha, Cabo de 75 

Hachuelo 54 

Hackia 169 

Haematoxylum campechianum 50 

Haemocharis portoricensis Ill 



TEEES OF PORTO EICO. 



61 



No. 
164 

Hagiiey 11 (note) 

Hat Palm 1 

Hat Palm, Porto Rican 1 

Hau 102 

Havarilla 84 

Havillo 84 

Haya 20 

Haya Blanca 19 

Haya Minga 20 

Haya Prieta 18 

Hediondilla 41 

Henriettella fasdcularis 134 (note 2) 

Henriettella macfadyenii 134 (note 2) 

Henriettella viembranifolia . . 134 (note 2) 

Hernandia sonora r. . . . 31 

Hernandiace^, X (31) 

neterotrichum cymosum 134 (note 2) 

Hibiscus elatus (see 102). 

Hibiscus tiliaceus 102 

Hieronymia clusioides 81 

Hierro, Palo de 169 

Higuerillo 78, 154, 154 (note, 156 

Higuero 11 (note), 161 

Higuillo 78 

Higuillo Preto 11 (note) 

Hincha-huevos 81 

Hippomane mandnella 83 

Hirtella rogosa 35 

Hirtella tiandra 35 

Hog Plum 87,89 

HojaMenuda 130,131 

Homalium racemosum 117 

Hucar Blanco 126 

Huesillo 150 

Hueso 67, 80 

Hueso Blanco 150 

Hueso, Palo de. . . . 67, 90, 122 (note), 150 

Hueso Prieto 67, 90 

Hufelandia pendula 29 

Hura crepitans 84 

Hymanaea courbaril 45 

Hypelata paniculata (see 98). 

Icacillo 35 

Ilex dioica (see 90). 

Ilex nitida 90 

Ilex sideroxyloides var . occidentalis . . 91 

Indian Almond 123 

Indian Walnut : 82 

Inga laurina 37 

Inga vera 36 

Ink Berry 163 

Inodes causiarum 1 

Inodes glauca 1 

Ironwood 100 

Tronwood, West Indian or Mar- 

tiaique 169 

Ixoraferrea 169 

Ixpepe 6 

Jacana 139 

Jagua 164 

Jaguey 11, 11 (note) 

Jamaican Walnut ,.,.,., 5 



No. 
Jambosa jambos (see 133). 

Jaqueca, Palo de 103 

Jatoba 45 

Javillo 84 

Jicara 161 

Jiguerillo 11 

Jobillo 75, 88 

Jobo 87 

Jobo Frances 88 

JUGLANDACE^, II (5) 

Juglans jamaicensis 5 

KopakTree 105 

Laguncularia racemosa 127 

Lancewood 24 

Lancewood, Black 18 

Lancewood, True 18 

Lancewood, White 19 

Laurace^, IX (25-30) 

Laurel 11 (note), 

17, 26, 26 (note), 27, 28, 29 

Laurel Amarillo 28 

Laurel Avispillo 27 

Laurel Blanco 28 

Lam-el Bobo 26, 27 

Laiuel Canelon 28 

Laurel de India. 11 (note) 

Laurel Espada 119 

Laurel Geo 27, 28 

Laurel Geo-geo 26, 27, 28 

Laurel Macho 28 

Laurel Roseta 28 

Laurel Sabino 17 

Laurel Sassafras 27 

Laurel Savino 17 

Laurelillo 28 

Leche Prieto 140 

Lechesillo 11, 81, 144, 144 (note) 

Leguminos^, XIV (36-59) 

Lemon 65 (note) 

Leucaena glauca 41 

Lignum Vitae 60 

Lilaila 73 

Lilaililla 93 

Lima 65 (note) 

Lime 65 (note) 

Lim6n 65 (note) 

Limon Dulce 65 (note) 

Limoncillo 129, 

129 (note), 131, 132 (note) 

Limoncillo de Monte 131 

Linociera domingensis iSiO 

Lizard Wood 156 

Llagrume 136 

Llagrume Macho 136 

Llagrumo 12 

Locust Tree 45 

Xog Wood 50 

Lonchocarpus domingensis 56 

Lonchocarpus glaucifolius 56 

Lonchocarpus latifolius 56 

Lora, Negra 10, 20 

Lucuma multiflora 139 



62 



BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 



No. 

Maba sintenisii 146 

Mabi 100, 100 (note) 

Machined 83 

Madre de Cacao 59 

Maga 104 

Magar 104 

Magas 104 

Magnolia portoricensis 17 (note) 

Magnolia splendens 17 

Magnoliace^, VII (17) 

Mago 31 

Mahagua 102 

Mahoe, Blue or Mountain 102 

Mahogany 72 

Mahot 102 

Mahot-franc 102 

Majagua 102 

Majagua Quemadora 121 

Malagueta 129, 129 (note) 

Malpighiaoe^, XX (76, 77) 

Malvace^, XXX (102-104) 

Mamey 112 

Mamey Sapote 138 (note) 

Mameyuelo 137, 137 (note), 145. 

Mammea 112 

Mammea americana 112 

Mammee Apple 112 

Mangifera indica 85 

Mangle 122, 125 

Mangle Blanco 127, 157 

Mangle Bobo 127, 157 

Mangle Bot6n 125 

Mangle Botoncillo 125 

Mangle Colorado 122, 125 

Mangle Sapatero 122 

Mang6 85 

Mangrove, Black 157 

Mangrove, Red 122 

Mangrove, White 127 

Manzanillo 81, 83 

Mapurito 62 (note) 

Maraiion 86 

Maria, Palo de 113 

Marias 113 

Maricao 76, 111 

Martin Avila 167 (note) 2 

Martinique Iron wood 169 

Masa 68 

Masa Colorado 68 

Mastic 141 

Mastichodendron (see 141). 

Matayaba apetala 97 (note) 

Malay aba doming ensis 97 

Mato 42.52 

Mato Colorado 42 

Mato, Palode 42,52 

Mauricio _ 17 (note) 

Mayepea domingensis (see 150). 

Melastomatace^, XLIII (134) 

Melia azedarach 73 

Melia azedarach umbraculifera . . 73 (note) 

Meliace^, XIX (71-75) 

Melicocca bijuga 95 

Meliosma herbertii 99 

Meliosma obtusifolia. 99 



No. 

Melon, Palo de 161 

Melon Tree 161 

Metopium taxiferum 89 

Miconia Quianensis 134 (note 1) 

Miconia impetiolaris 134 (note 1) 

Miconia prasina 134 (note 1) 

Miconia tetrandra 134 

MicrophoUs curvata 140 

Micropholis garcinifolia 140 

Millo 78 

Millo, Palode 78 

Mimusops duplicata 145 

Mimusops globosa (see 145). 

Mimusops nitida 145 

Moca 58 

Moca Blanca 58 

Molinillo. 75, 84 

Monkey's Dinner Bell 84 

Mora 8 

Mora, Palo de 8 

Morace^, IV (7-12) 

Moral 153 (note) 

Moral de Paz 153 (note) 

Moralon 15 

Motillo 101 

Mountain Mahoe 102 

Multa 122 (note) 

Muneca 135, 153 (note) 

Muneca, Palo de 153 (note) 

Muneco, Palo de 152 

Murta 132 (note) 

Musk Wood 74 

Mycropholis chrysophylloides 140 

Myrcia deflexa 130 

Myrcia leptoclada 130 

Myrcia f pagani 130 

Myrcia splendens 130 

Myroxylon huxi folium, (see 118). 
Myroxylon schwaneclceanum (see 118). 

Myrsinace^, XLV (137) 

Myrtace^, XLII (128-133) 

Naceberry 138 

Naranja 65 (note) 

Naranja China 65 

Nectandra, coriacea 28 

Nectandra hrugii 28 

Nectandra mem branacea 28 

Nectandra patens 28 

Nectandra sintenisii 28 

Negra Lora 10, 20 

Nemoca 27 

Nino de Cota HI 

Nispero 138 

Nispero Cimarron, Palo de 148 

Nogal 5 

Nopalea coccinellifera 1 20 

Nuez 82 

Nuez de India 82 

Nuez Moscada 27 

Nuez Moscada Cimarrona 27 

Nuez Moscada del Pays 27 

Nuez, Palo de 5 

Nutmeg 27 

Nyctaginace^, VI , (16) 



THEES OF PORTO RICO. 



63 



No. 

Oak, Central American 91 

Ochronia lagopus 107 

Ocotea cuneata 27 

Ocotea fiorihunda 27 

Ocotea leucoxylon 27 

Ocotea moschata 27 

Ocotea portoricensis 27 

Ocotea wrightii 27 

OLEACE.E, L (150) 

Olive Wood of Jamaica, Wild 126 

Opuntia catacantha 120 

Opuntia guanicana 120 

Oreja, Palo de 122 (note)" 

Oreodoxa caribaea 2 

Oreodoxa regia (see 2). 

Orme d'Amerique 110 

Ormosia krugii 52 

Ortegon 13, 15 (note) 

Otaheite Gooseberry 78 

Oxandra lanceolata 18 

Oxandra laurifolia 19 

Pajuil 86 

Palicourea alpina 170 

Palm, Coco 4 

Palm, Hat 1 

Palm, Porto Rican Hat 1 

Palm, Royal 2 

Palma Costa 2 

Palma de Coco 4 

Palma de Grana 2 

Palma de la Sierra 3 

Palma de Sierra 3 

Palma de Sombrero 1 

Palma de Yaguas 2 

Palma Real 2 

Palmacte 2 

Palm.?;, I (1-4) 

Palo Amargo 152 

Palo Blanco 80 (note) 

119, 150, 167 (note 2) 

Palo Blanco de la Costa 122. (note) 

Palo Bobo 15 (note), 16,33 

Palo Cachumba 135, 135 (note) 

Palo Colorado 29, 111, 118 

Palo de Aceite 68 

Palo de Aceituna 80 (note) 

Palo de Anastasio 75 

Palo de Boyo 59 

Palo de Burro Prieta 32 (note) 

Palo de Cabra 6, 148 

Palo de Campeche 50 

Palo de Candela 118 

Palo de Capa de Sabana 155 

Palo de Cichimbo 170 

Palo de Cotorra 81, 163 

Palo de Cucubano 165 

Palo de Cupey 114 

Palo de Dajao 169 

Palo de Doncella 77 

Palo de Espinillo 163 

Palo de Gallina 81 

Palo de Gangulin 135 (note) 

Palo de Garrocha 106 

Palo de Gongoli 122 (note) 

Palo de Guitarra , 154 



No. 
Palo de Hierro *169 

PalodeHueso 67, 90, 122 (note, 150 

Palo de Jaqueca 103 

Palo de Maria 113 

Palo de Masa 68 

Palo de Mato 42, 52 

Palo de Melon 161 

PalodeMillo 78 

Palo de Mora 8 

Palo de Muneca 153 (note) 

Palo de Muneco 152 

Palo de Nispero Cimarron 148 

Palo de Nuez 5 

Palo de Oreja 122 (note) 

Palo de Pan 9 

Palo de P^ndula 156 

Palo de Polio 55 

Palo de Quina 167 

Palo de Tea 64 

Palo de Toro 122 (note), 170 

Palo de Vaca 135 (note) 

Palo de Vaca Blanco 80 

Palo Hediondo 56 

Palo Mabi 100 (note) 

Palo Polio 55 

Pana 9,135 

Pana Cimarrona 136 

Papayo 89 

Paritium tiliaceum (see 102). 

Pasilla 73 

Pendola 15 

P^ndola Cimarron 154 (note) 

P^ndula 154, 156 

P^ndula Blanco 156 

Pendula Colorado 154 

Pendula, Palo de 156 

Peronia 52 

Peronilas 42 

Persea americana 25 

Persea gratissima ( see 25). 

Persea krugii 25 (note) 

Petitia domingensis 155 

Phoebe elongata 26 

Phoebe montana 26 (note) 

Phyllanthus distichus 78 

Phyllanthus nobilis var. antillanus . 78 

Picramnia pentandra 67 

Pictetia aculeata 54 

Pictetia aristata (see 54). 

Pilocereus royeni 120 

Pimienta 129 (note) 

Pimienta Malagueta 129 

Pinon Espinoso 59 

Piptadenia peregrina 43 

Piscidia piscipnla 57 

Pisonia subcordata var. typica 16 

Pitajaya 120 

Pithecolobium arboreum 38 (note) 

Pithicolobium saman 38 

Pleodendron macranthum 116 

Plum, Florida, or Guiana 79 

Plum, Guazuma 109 

Plum, Hog 87, 89 

Plumiera alba 151 

Poinciana regia 51 

Poisou Wood ,,,..,..,.,.,, 89 



64 



BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTURE. 



No. 
Polisandro 44 

PoLYGONACEiE, V (13-15) 

Poma Rosa 133 

Pomelo 65 (note) 

Porcupine Wood 4 

Porto Rican Hat Palm 1 

Prickly Ash 61 

Prince Wood 153 

Pruniis occidental-is 34 

Pseudolmedia spuria 10 

Psidium guajava 128 

Psychotria brachiata 170 

Pterocarpus officinalis 55 

Pumu 2 

Purio 19 

Quapinole Jutahy 45 

Quararibea turbinata 106 

Quenepas 95 

Quiebra Hacha 94 

Quina 167,167 (note) 

Quina, Palo de 167 

Quitardn 100 

Rabo Rat6n 119 

Rabojunco 119 

Rain Tree ,. 38 

Rama Menuda 130 

Ramon 7 

Ramoncillo 7, 75 

Randia aculeata 163 

Raton 97, 100 

Rauwolfia nitida 152 

Ravenia urbani 63 

Red Bean Tree 59 

Red Mangrove 122 

Retamo 75 

RhAMN ACE.E, _XX VIII (100) 

Rheedia portoricensis 114 (note) 

Rhizophora mangle 122 

RmzoPHORACEiE, XL (122) 

Roble 158, 159, 160, 160 (note 

Roble Blanco 159 

Roble Colorado 158 

Roble Prieto 160 

Rollinia mucosa 24 

Rondeletia portoriceasis 162 

Rosacea, XIII (34) 

Rose Apple 133 

Rose Wood 64 (note) 

Roseta 118 

Royal Palm 2 

Roystonea borinquena (see 2). 

Rubia 62 (note) 

RuBiACE^, LV (162-170) 

RUTACE^, XVI (61) 

Sabiace^, XXVII (99) 

Sabino 17 

Saman 38 

Sambucus intermedia var. insularis . 171 

San Bartolome 153 (note) 

Sand-box Tree 84 

Sangre de Doncella 77 

Sangninaria 100 

Santa Maria 103, 113 



No, 

Santa Olalla 167 (note 2) 

Sapinuace^, XXVI (94-98) 

Sapium laurocerasus 81 

Sapo, Cuero de 90 

Sapodilla 138 

Sapotace^, XLVI (138-145) 

Sapote 145 

Sapote de Costa 145 

Sarna de Perro 119 

Saruma 12 

Sassafras 27 

Satinwood 62 

Satinwood, West Indian 66 

Saiico 171 

Sauco Cimarr6n 93 

Sea Grape 14 

Sebucdn. 114 (note), 120 

Seburoquillo 94 

Seplina 47 

Serillos 99 

Serrasuela 165 

Sesbania grandiflora 53 

Sideroxylon foetidissimum 141 

Sideroxylon mastichodendron (see 
141). 

Sideroxylon portoricense 141 (note) 

Siete-cueros 78 

Silk-cotton 105 

Simaruba tulae 66 

Simarubace^, XVII (66, 67) 

SirisTree 39 

Sloanea berteriana 101 

Snakewood 100 

Sour Orange 65 (note) 

Soursop 21 

Spanish Cedar 71 

Spanish Elm 153 

Spanish Plum 88 

Spondias lutea (see 87). 

Spondias mombin 87 

Spondias purpurea .• 88 

Stahlia monosperma 44 

Staphyleace^, XXV (93) 

Star Apple 143 

Sterculiace^, XXXII (109, 110) 

Styracace^, XLIX (149) 

Styrax portoricensis 149 

Sugar Apple 23 

Sweet Lemon 65 (note) 

Sweet Orange 65 

Sweetsop 23 

Sivietenia mahagoni 72 

Symplocace^, XLVIII (148) 

Symplocos lanata 148 

Symplocos latifolia 148 

Symplocos martinicensis 148 

Symplocos micrantha 148 

Symplocos polyantha 148 

Tabanuco 69 

Tabebuia rigida 158 

Tabebuia schumanniana 158 

Tabeiba 81, 146, 151 

Tabloncillo 141 (note), 142 

Tabonuco 69 

Tachuelo 54 



TREES OP PORTO RICO. 



65 



No. 

Talaiitr6n : 119 

Tamarind 46 

Tamarindo 46 

Tamarindo Cimarron 40 

Tamarindus indica 46 

Tea 64, 64 (note) 

Tea Cimarrona 97 

Tea, Palode 64 

Tecoma haemantha 160 (note) 

Tecoma leucoxylon 160 

Tecoma pentaphylla 159 

Temante 161 

Terciopelo 134 (note 2) 

Terminalia catappa 123 

Ternstroemia heptascpaln Ill 

Ternstroemia luquiUcnsis Ill 

Ternstroemia peduncularis Ill 

Ternstroemiace^, XXXIII. . . . (Ill) 

Tetade Burra 35,144 

Teta de Burra Cimarron 35 

TetaPrieta Ill 

Tetragastris halsamifera 68 

Theobroma cacao 108 

Thcspesia grandiflora 104 

Thcspesia populnm 103 

Thouinia striata 94 

Thymelaeace^, XXXIX (121) 

Tigulate 161 

Tintillo 163 

Torchwood 64 (note) 

Toronja 65 (note) 

Tortuga 141 

Tortugo Amarillo 141 

Tortugo Prieto 63, 141 

Tortuguillo 166 

Tostado 117 

Tovomita ellipiica (see 114, note). 

Trema micranthuvi 6 

Trichilia hirta 75 

Trichilia pallida 75 

Trichilia triacantha 75 

Trophis racemosa 7 

True Lancewood 18 

Trumpet Tree 12 

Tuna de Espafia 120 

Tuna Mansa 120 

Turpinia panniculata 93 

TJcar 126 

Ucar Blanco ; . . . 126 

Ulmace^, III (6) 

Umbrella China Tree 73 (note) 

Uva del Mar 14 

Uverillo 15 (note) 

21871°— Bull. 354—16 5 



No. 

Uvero 14 

Uvillo 15 (note) 

Varietal 47 

Varital 79, 80 (note) 

Ventura 57 

Ventura, Forte 56 

Verbenacp^, LIII (154-157) 

Vibona 135, 135 (note) 

Vitex divaricata 156 

Vomitel Colorado 153 (note) 

Walnut, East Indian 39 

Walnut, Indian 82 

Walnut, Jamaican 5 

Walnut, West Indian 5 

West Indian Birch 70 

West Indian Boxwood 159 

West Indian Cedar 71 

West Indian Elm" 109 

West Indian Greenheart 100 

West Indian Ironwood 169 

West Indian Satinwood 66 

West Indian Walnut 5 

White Lancewood 19 

White Mangrove 127 

Whitewood 79, 160 

Wild Cinnamon 116,129 

Wild Olive Wood 126 

Winterana canella 116 

WiNTERANACEiE, XXXVI (116) 

Woman's Tongue 39 

Xylosma buxifolium 118 

Xylosma schwanecheanum 118 

Yagrume 136 

Yagrume Hembra 12 

Yagrume Macho 136 

Yagua 2 

Yagua del Monte 3 

Yaray 1 

Yaya 19 

Yaya Blanca 19 

Yellow Sanders 124 

Yellow Wood 62 

Yobillo 81 

Yuquillo 78 

Zanthoxylum (see 61, footnote). 

Zapote Negro 6 Prieto 147 

Zarza 40 (note) 

Zipote 145 

Z YGOPHYLLACE^, XV (60) 



66 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OP AGRICULTURE. 

DESCRIPTION OF SPECIES. 

1. PALMiE. 

1. Inodes caimarum Cook. Yaray; Porto Rican hat palm (Br. W. T.) . 
Inodcs glauca Urb. Damm. Palma de sombrero; Hat palm (Br. W. I.). 

Two palms more or less common on the western end of ihe island, usually along 
the shore on the coral sand. The leaves are held in high repute in Porto Pdco for 
making hats, immense quantities of which are manufactured every year. The center 
of this industry is at Joyua, just south of Mayaguez. 

2. Oreodoxa caribaea (Spreng.) Damm. & Url). (=Rorjstonca borinqucna Cook?=0. 

regia Bello?). Palma real, Yagua, Palma de yaguas, Palraa costa, Palma 
degrana; Palmacte, Pumu (Sp. W. I.); Royal palm (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 40 to more than 80 feet high and sometimes 2 feet in diameter, found 
throughout the island, the West Indies, and southern Florida. One of the most con- 
spicuous ol:)jects in the Porto Rican landscape. The most useful part is the sheathing 
base of the leaf called "yagua," which is used for roofing and siding of huts, and for a 
great variety of other piu^?oses, especially by the poorer classes. The outer portion 
of the trunk is used for boards, posts, poles, piles, etc. The leaves are used for thatch- 
ing roofs. The royal palm has more economic uses than any other tree in the West 
Indies. 

3. Acrhta monticola Cook. Palma de la Sierra, Palma de Sierra, Yagua del Monte. 
Tree from 30 to 80 feet high and from 12 to 18 inches in diameter, closely allied 

to the royal palm {Oreodoxa caribaea). The Porto Rican species is coniined chiefly 
to the mountain regions. The outer portion of the trunk, spht into bpards, is used 
for making huts, and the leaves for thatching roofs. 

4. Cocas nucifita L. Palma de coco, Coco, Cocotero (Sp. W. I.); Coconut, Porcupine 

wood. Coco palm (Br. W. I.). 

Tree usually from 40 to 50 feet tall and from 12 to 15 inches in diameter, found 
everywhere along the coast in Porto Rico, the West Indies, and the Tropics generally. 
Extensively planted and of great economic importance. The "milk" of green fruit 
is in great demand locally. It is drunk directly from the nut, which is then thrown 
away. The ripe fruit is exported in large quantities. The wood is used for walking 
sticks, uml)rella handles, posts, piles, and for other purposes requiring strong and 
durable material. The fiber of the husk, known as coir, and the dried meat of the 
nut, known as copra, both important articles of export from the East Indies to 
Europe, have no commercial value in Porto Roco. 

The wood is somewhat similar to that of the royal palm, very hard, heavy (about 
50 pounds per cubic foot), strong, tough, and very dui'able in contact with the soil. 

II. JuGLANDACEyE. 

5. Jnglans jamaicenns C. DC. Nogal, Palo de nuez; Jamaican or West Indian 

walnut (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 40 to 80 feet high and from 18 to 24 inches in diameter, occurring only 
at high altitudes on the island. The wood is similar to that of our native Butternut 
{Juxjlans cinerea L.) but is seldom used except occasionally for furniture. 

III. UlMACE/E. 

6. Trema micranihum (L.) Bl. Palo de cabra, Guacimilla, Guazymillo; Ixpgpe 

(Mexico). 

Tree from 15 to 60 feet high, occurring here and there throughout the island. Wood 
little used. Wood light brown, moderately fin§ grained, capable of a good polish, 
but rather soft, light, and weak. Pores small, isolated, or in groups of two to five or 
more, and evenly distributed. Pith rays minute, inconspicuous. 



TEEES OF POETO EICO. 67 

IV. MORACE.E. 

7. Trophisracemosa(L.)'Urh. Ramon/ Ramoncillo. 

Tree from 30 to 50 feet high, occurring in the northwestern part of the island, chiefly 
of importance on account of the leaves, which are used as fodder for cattle and horses. 
Its wood is good for all purposes except in exposed situations. 

*8. Chlorophom tinctoria (L.) Gaudich. Mora, Palo de mora. Fustic. 

Tree from 45 to 65 feet high and from 18 to 24 inches in diameter, occm-ring mostly 
in the southwestern part of the island. The wood is used locally for shelving in 
country houses and for spokes of wheels; also for furniture and wherever great strength 
and durability are required. This tree, which occurs throughout the West Indies 
and Central America, furnishes one of the most important dyewoods of commerce. 

Wood 2 a handsome brownish-yellow, very fine-grained. Pores small, isolated or 
in gi-oups of two to four, more or less connected by short wavy tangential lines of wood 
parenchyma, which are conspicuous on a transverse siuface. Pith rays very narrow 
and inconspicuous. Wood takes a fine poUsh, hard, heavy (about 44 pounds per 
cubic foot), strong, tough, and durable. 

*9. Artocarpus incisa L. {=Artocarpus communis Forst.). Pana, Palo de pan, Castana; 
Bread fruit, Bread nut (Br. W! I.). 

Tree from 40 to 60 feet high, introduced from the East Indies, now growing spon- 
taneously in many parts of the island, particularly the north side. The fruit is very 
large with numerous large seeds resembling the Spanish chestnut, whence the common 
name "castana." These seeds are an important article of native food. Wood, though 
little used, is said to be highly appreciated for furniture and for building houses. 

Wood is yellowish-grajr in color; rather light and soft, but strong, resistant, and 
elastic. Its specific gravity is given as 0.495 (C. & C). 

10. Pseudolmedia spuria (Sw.) Griseb. Negra lora. 

Tree frorn 25 to 50 feet high with a limited distribution on the island. It is of very 
little use except for fuel and charcoal. 

*11. Ficus laevigata var. lentiginosa subvar. subcordata (Warb.) Urb. (=F. lentiginosa 
Vahl.). Jagiiey, Jiguerillo, Lechesillo. 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet high and from 4 to 5 feet in diameter, occurring quite gen- 
erally in the mountainous regions. It is at first semiepiphytic and often destroys, 
trees on which it grows. It is used in making fishing canoes. 

Wood light gi'ay with narrow brown lines of softer tissue, fine, and straight-grained 
moderately soft and Light (about 30 pounds per cubic foot). Pores small, solitary or 
in groups of two to four, evenly distributed. Tangential lines of wood-parenchyma 
fibers visible on a smooth transverse surface. Pith rays very narrow and indistinct. 

Note. — Similar to the above in the uses and properties of their wood are Ficus 
smtenisii Warb. (Jagiiey, Higuillo preto) and Ficus stahlii Warb. (Hagiiey, 
Jagiiey) trees, 15 to 60 feet high, wliich occur in the mountainous regions. Several 
other species of Ficus kno\vn locally as "Higuero " are reported as being generally 
distributed throughout the island. These are small trees averaging from 10 to 
20 feet high and from 4 to 6 inches in diameter. The wood, which is very little 
used, is white, soft, light (about 43 pounds per cubic foot), and not strong nor 
dui'able in the soil. 

Another species F^cits nitida Thumb. (Laurel de India, Laurel), introduced 
from Asia, is a beautiful tree from 45 to 65 feet high and has been planted on the 
island for ornamental purposes. The wood is not used. 

1 Thistreemustnotbeconfused with the bread-nut tree (Brosmwrn alicastrum Sw.), whirti is also called 
"Ramon" throughout the West Indies and Yucatan. The latter is a native of Jamaica but has not 
been reported from Porto Rico. 

2 See pp. 12-14, Forest Service Circular 184. 



68 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

12. Cecropia peltata L. Yagrurae hembra, Llagnimo. Trumpet tree; Guanimbo, 
sariima (Mexico). 

Tree from 20 to 60 feet high and from 10 to 12 inches in diameter, occurring in moun- 
tainoTis re,<j:ions. It is common throughout the West Indies. The trunks and branches 
are hollow and are often made into carrying poles and floats for fishing nets. Wood 
while, light, soft, moderately weak, and not durable in contact with the soil. 

V. POLYGONACE^. 

*13. Coccoloba i-ugosa Desf. Ortegon. 

Tree from 40 to 100 feet high, occurring from sea level to 2,000 feet elevation, abun- 
dant along the coast. Wood useful for construction timber. Wood purplish, line- 
grained, hard, heavy, strong, and tough. Pores very small, isolated or in groups of 
two or three, evenly distributed. Pith rays narrow, inconspicuous. 

*14. Coccoloba uvifera (L.) Jacq. Uvero, Uva del mar, Sea grape. 

Tree from 15 to 30 feet high and from 3 to 4 feet in diameter, growing along the coast. 
The trees are reproduced by cuttings. The wood is highly esteemed for cabinet work. 
Wood dark brown with nearly black linear markings, very fine-grained, taking an 
excellent polish, very hard, heavy (65 pounds per cubic foot), strong, and tough. 
Pores very few, very small, isolated or in radial rows of two to four. Pith rays narrow, 
inconspicuous. 

*15. Coccoloba grandifolia Jacq. Moralon. 

Tree from 50 to 60 feet high and from 1 foot to 2 feet in diameter, occurring in moun- 
tain forests. Reported formerly very common in the vicinity of Lares and throughout 
the limestone belt from Ciales and Utuado to the west coast. It is also native to others 
of the West Indies and to Mexico and Guiana. Wood was highly prized for building 
piirposes and for furniture and cabinet work," but is now scarce. 

Wood reddish, close and sometimes cross-grained, very hard, and heavy. Pores 
minute, isolated, or in groups of two or three, evenly distributed. Pith rays minute, 
very inconspicuous. 

Note. — Other species of this genus are * Coccoloba nivea Jacq. (Calambreiias) 
Coccoloba laurifolia Jacq. (Uvillo, Cucubano, Gateado. Glateado, Uverillo) 
Coccoloba obtusxfolia Jacq. (U^^llo); Coccoloba diversifolia Jacq. (Palo bobo) 
Coccoloba urbaniana Lindau. (Ortegon). Trees from 15 to 45 feet high, growing 
mostly in the mountains, and yielding fine and useful timbers. Wood in general 
similar to the above. 

VI. Nyctaginace^. 

16. Pisonia subcordata var. typica Heimerl. Corcho, Palo bobo. 

Tree from 40 to 60 feet high, occurring here and there thi'oughout the island. Wood 
of very little use. 

VII. Magnoliace^. 

*17. Magnolia splendens Urban. Laurel sabino, Laurel savino, Laurel, Sabino. 

Tree from 50 to 100 feet high and from 1 J to 2 J feet in diameter, found in all parts 
of the island, though now very scarce. One of the most valuable timbers on the 
island, and used for beams, boards, and furniture. 

Wood clear olive-brown, often turning yellowish-green, beautiful, aromatic, straight 
and fine-grained, resembling the wood of tulip poplar (Liriodendron tulipij'era L.) and 
cucumber tree (Magnolia acuminata L.) with which it is closely allied. It is moder- 
ately hard, heavy, strong, tough, and very durable in contact with soil and air. Does 
not warp or check during seasoning. Pores very small, solitary or in pairs, and evenly 
distributed throughout the annual rings of gi-owth, which are marked by more or less 
distinct narrow lines of radially compressed wood fibers. Pith rays very narrow, 
scarcely visible on a poUshed radial surface. 

Note. — Magnolia portoricensis Bello (Burro, Mauricio) recognized by Bello as a 
separate species is a tree from 45 to 80 feet high. It is reported only from the west- 
ern part of the island. Wood similar to that of M. splendens. 



TREES OF POETO RICO. 69 

VIII. Anonace^. 

18. Oxandra lanceolata (Sw.) Baill. Haya prieta; Black lancewood, True lancewood 

(Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 20 to 30 feet high and from 8 to 12 inches in diameter with a limited 
occurrence in the western part of the island. It occurs largely throughout the West 
Indies, and in parts of South America where the wood is highly esteemed for lances, 
fishing rods, shafts, spars, ramrods, and general turnery. 

Wood yellow, very fine-grained, hard, light, strong, and very elastic. Pores are 
minute, solitary or in groups of two to five, radially disposed, and evenly distributed. - 
Pith rays narrow, scarcely visible to the unaided eye. 

19. Oxandra laurifolia (Sw.) A. Rich. Yaya, Yaya blanca, Haya blanca, Purio; 

White lancewood (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 30 to 80 feet high and from 10 to 20 inches in diameter. It occurs in the 
mountain forests. and is distributed throughout the West Indies. It is used largely 
for the same purposes as the true lancewood (Oxandra lanceolota), but is not so 
valuable. 

Wood light yellowish and fine-grained, hard, light, and strong. Pores minute, 
solitarj^ or in small groups, and evenly distributed. Pith rays inconspicuous. 

20. Guatteria blainii (Griseb.) Urb. . Haya, Haya minga, Negra lora. 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet high, quite generally distributed throughout the island. 
*21. Anona muricata L. Guandbana; Soursop (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 10 to 35 feet high and from 6 to 12 inches in diameter, extensively cul- 
tivated throughout the island for the sake of its fruit, which hasan agreeable slightly 
acid flavor, and is closely allied to the East Indian species (Anona squamosa L.). 
Wood of little use except for fuel. 

Wood light brown, turning darker with age, fine and straight-grained, resembling 
somewhat the wood of our papaw (Asimina triloba Dunal.), which is called "Anona" 
in Spanish. It is soft, light, not strong, brittle, not durable in contact with the 
soil. Pores very small, solitary, or occasionally in pairs, and very evenly distributed 
throughout the annual rings of growth, which are scarcely ^dsible to the unaided 
eye. Pith rays numerous and indistinct. 

23. Anona palustris L. Cayul, Cayur, Anon, Corazon cimarron, Cayures, Corcho; 
Alligator apple, Cork wood (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 20 to 30 feet high and from 8 to 12 inches in diameter. It grows usually 
in swampy localities and is found along the coasts. Wood used for rafts, floats for 
fishing nets, and as stoppers for bottles. Wood gray or light brown, somewhat tinged 
with green, lustrous, fine and straight-grained, soft, very light, weak, not diuable in 
contact with the soil, resembling that of the papaw (Asimina triloba Dunal.). Pores 
small, solitary or in small groups, and evenly distributed. Pith rays scarcely visible 
to the unaided eye. 

23. Anona squamosa L. Anon, Anonde escamas, Chirimoya, Cherimolia; Sweetsop; 
Sugar apple (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 10 to 20 feet high. An East Indian species, introduced into all tropical 
countries, and now extensively cultivated for its fruit. It is found in most parts 
of the island. The wood is of little use. Wood light brown streaked with yellow, fine- 
grained, moderately soft, light, weak,.brittle, and not durable in contact with the soil. 

Note. — Of the other two species found on the island, Anona reticulata L. 
(Corazon; Custard apple, Bullock's heart [Br. W. I.]) is a tree from 15 to 30 
feet high and from 6 to 12 inches in diameter, extensively cultivated throughout 
the island for the sake of its fruit, Anona moniana Macf. (Guanavana cimari'ona), 
which attains a height of from 30 to 50 feet, occurs chiefly in mountainous regions. 
The wood of both is similar to that of the other species and is of little use except 
for firewood. 



70 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

24. Rollinia mucosa (Jacq.) Baill. Anon; Lancewood (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 30 to 50 feet high and from 8 to 12 inches in diameter, of limited occur- 
rence in Porto Rico. Indigenous also to several islands in the Lesser Antilles, to 
Trinidad, and to Mexico. The wood is said to be occasionally used as a substitute 
for the true lancewood (Oxandra lanceolata), which it resembles. Wood light yellow, 
moderately hard, heavy, strong, and tough. • 

IX. LAURACEiE. 

35. Fersea aniericana Mill (=/*. gratissima Gaertn.). Aguacate, Avocate, Avo- 
cado; Alligator pear. Butter pear (Br. W. I^). 

Tree from 30 to 40 feet high and from 12 to 18 inches in diameter introduced from 
Mexico and now growing spontaneously throughout the island. It is widely planted 
throughout tropical and subtropical regions for its edible pear-shaped fruit. The 
fruit jdelds an abundance of oil for burning and for soap making. A deep indelible 
black juice used for marking linen is obtained from the seeds. The wood is suggested 
for use in cabinetmM:ing. 

Wood light reddish -brown, beautifully figured and fine grained, soft, light (about 
40 pounds per cubic foot), and brittle. Pores small, numerous, isolated or in groups 
of two or three, evenly distributed throughout the annual rings of growth, which are 
only faintly visible. Pith rays very minute and inconspicuous. 

Note.— Persea krugii Mez. (Canela) is reported as a tree from 30 to 50 feet high, 
with a very limited occurrence on the island. Wood similar to that of the above. 

*36. Phoebe elongata (Vahl.) Nees. Avispillo, Laiuel, Laurel bobo, Lavuel geo-geo. 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet high and from 1 foot to 2 feet in diameter, from the Luquillo 
region. Wood light brown, fine, and cross-grained, taking a ^ood poUsh; hard, heavy, 
strong, and tough. Pores very small, evenly distributed. Pith rays very narrow and 
inconspicuous. 

Note. — Phoebe viontana (Sw.) Griseb. (Laurel, Avispillo), another species of 
this genus is of limited occurrence in the interior of the island and is similar in 
size and in the character of its wood. 

27. Ocotea. 

A genus of limited occxirrence and little known uses in Porto Rico, is represented by 
the six following species: Ocotea wrightii (Meissn.) Mez. (Canela, Canelon); Ocotea 
moschata (Meissn.) Mez. (Nemoca, Nuez moscada, Nuez moscada cimarrona, Nuez 
moscada del pays, nutmeg); Ocotea cuneata (Griseb.) Urb. (Sassafras, Laurel sassafras); 
Ocotea floribunda (Sw.) Mez. (Laurel); Ocotea leucoxylon (Sw.) Mez. (Cacaillo, Laiu-el, 
Laurel bobo, Laurel geo. Laurel geo-geo); Ocotea portoricensis Mez. (Laurel, Laurel 
avispillo. Laurel geo). Trees from 30 to 90 feet high and from 1 foot to 3 feet in diam- 
eter, occurring in mountain forests. The wood resembles that of Phoebe elongata. 

28. Nectandra. 

The following five species of this genus are reported from Porto Rico: Nectandra 
sintenisii Mez. (Laurel. Laurel amarillo, Laui'el bianco. Laurel geo. Laurel macho); 
Nectandra krugii Mez. (Laurel, Laurel canelon); Nectandra membranacea (Sw.) Griseb. 
(Laiuel, Laurel geo-geo, Laiu-elillo) ; Nectandra -patens (Sw.) Griseb. (Laurel, Laurel 
roseta); Nectandra coriacea (Sw.) Griseb. (Avispillo, Laurel). _ Trees from 30 to 70 feet 
high, occuiTing mostly in the mountains of the Luquillo region, and relatively unim- 
portant. Wood Ught brown. Pores small, isolated or in groups of two or three, 
evenly distributed. Pith rays minute, inconspicuous. 

29. Hufelandia pendida (Sw.) Nees. Aguacate cimarron, Cedro macho, Laurel, Palo 

Colorado. 

Tree from 50 to 60 feet high and from 1 foot to 1^ feet in diameter, occmTing in 
mountainous regions. Wood yellowing-brown turning darker with exposure to air and 
light. It is fine and straight-grained, hard, moderately heavy, strong, and tough. Pores 
numerous, small, and evenly distributed. Pith rays narrow and inconspicuous. 

30. Acrodiclidium salicifolium (Sw.) Griseb. Canela, CaneUllo. 

Tree from 25 to 50 feet high. Common in the mountainous districts, but of shght 
economic value. 



TREES OF PORTO RICO. 71 

X. Hernandiace^. 

31. Hernandia sonora L. Mago. 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet high, with a limited occurrence in the mountains of the 
Luquillo region. Wood little used. Wood cream colored, fine-grained, rather soft 
and light. Pores visible to the unaided eye, isolated or in groups of two to six, often 
more, evenly distributed. 

XI. Cappardiace^. 

32. Capparis portoricensis Urb. Biuro, Burro bianco. 

Tree from 45 to 60 feet high, found near the southern coast. Wood white or light 
yellow, fine-grained, taking a good polish, moderately hard and heavy. Pores small, 
isolated or in groups of two to four, evenly distributed. Pith rays narrow, incon- 
spicuous. 

Note. — Capparis jamaicensis Jacq. (Burro, Palo de burro Prieta), is reported 
as a slu'ub or tree from 10 to 50 feet high, occurring along the coast. Wood similar 
to the preceding. 

XII. Brunelliace^. 

33. Brunellia comocladifolia H. & B. Palo bobo. 

Tree from 45 to 60 feet high, of limited occurrence in the mountainous region of the 
island . 

XIII. Rosacea. 

34. Prunus occidentalis Sw. Ahnendron, Almendrillo. 

Tree from 40 to 50 feet high and from 1 foot to 2 feet in diameter, common throughout 
the island. Wood employed, like the black cherry {Prunus serotina), for cabinet 
work and interior finish of houses. 

Wood light brown, fine and straight-grained, taking an excellent polish, and often 
difficult to distinguish from light-colored mahogany. It is hard, heavy (about 66 
pounds per cubic foot), strong, moderately tough, and very durable under water. 
Pores small, numerous, evenly distributed throughout the annual rings of growth, 
wliich are easily seen on a smooth transverse section. Pith rays moderately narrow 
and easily visible under the hand lens. 

35. Hirtella. 

Two species are reported from Porto Rico: Hirtella tiandra Sw. (Teta de biirra) and 
Hirtella rugosa Pers. (Teta de bm-ra cimarron, Icacillo). 

Described as shrubs or small trees ranging from 20 to 50 feet high and from 6 to 12 
inches in diameter, occurring thi'oughout the island, chiefly in mountainous regions. 
The wood is used principally for fuel and charcoal. Wood light brown, turning darker 
with age, fine and straight-grained, hard, heavy, strong, tough, and moderately dura- 
ble in the soil. ' 

XIV. Leguminos^. 

*36. Inga vera Willd. Guava, Gauba. 

Tree from 30 to 50 feet high growing in mountainous region and extensively planted 
for shade in coffee plantations, for which it is considered the most important tree in 
Porto Rico. Wood used only for fuel and charcoal. 

Wood light gray, fine grained, moderately hard, heavy (40 pounds per cubic foot), 
and strong. Pores small, isolated or in groups of two or three, evenly distributed and 
sometimes connected tangentially by the wood-parenchyma fibers surrounding each 
pore. Pith rays minute, inconspicuous. 

*37. Inga laurina (Sw.) Willd. Guamd. 

Tree from 30 to 50 feet high, abundant in the foothills, and very valuable as a shade 
free in coffee plantations, being considered only second to Inga vera for this piupose. 
Wood used for firewood and charcoal. 

Wood dark gray, fine-gi'ained, moderately hard, and heavy (44 pounds per cubic 
foot). Pores small, isolated or in groups of two or three, evenly distributed, and 
often connected by tangential lines of wood-parenchyma fibers. Pith rays minute 
very inconspicuous. 



72 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

*38. Pithecolobium saman (Jacq.) Benth. Saman, Guango; Rain tree (Br. W. I.). 

Cultivated tree from 45 to GO feet high, occurring sparingly throughout the island. 
Native of Central and South America. Excellent for shade in yards and along road- 
sides, as well as in pastures where through the property of its roots to accumulate and 
store nitrogen in the soil it is also beneficial to the grass crop. It yields pods very suit- 
able for food for cattle. It is believed to be superior to theTjucare (Erythrina) as a 
shade for nutmeg, cacao, coffee, tea, and similar crops because less liable to fall and 
injure the plantation. It is especially well adapted for planting in dry arid regions. 
In Central America the wood is used to make wheels for oxcarts. 

Wood red, fine-grained, taking a ^ood polish, fairly hard and heavy, not durable. 
Pores moderately small, isolated or in groups of two to four, evenly distributed sur- 
rounded by wood parenchyma which sometimes forms tangential lines. Pith rays 
small, inconspicuous. 

Note. — Pithecolobium arhoreum (L.) Urb. (Cojoba, Cojobana) is reported as 
being a tree from 45 to (iO feet high and about 18 inches in diameter, occurring in 
many parts of the island. The structure of the wood is similar to that of /-". saman. 

*39. Alhizzia lebbeck (L.) Benth. Acacia amarilla. Amor platonico, Flamboydn; 
East Indian walnut, Siris tree, Woman's tongue (Br. W. I.). 

Beautiful cultivated tree from 30 to 40 feet high, drought resisting, and planted in 
the southern part of the island. Native of the East Indies. Has no economic uses 
in Porto Rico, but ^sewhere the wood is used for house and boat building, furniture, 
sugar-cane crushers, etc., while the gum, as an adulterant of giun arabic, is used in 
calico printing. 

Wood dark brown, lustrous, and rather cross-grained, resembling our black walnut 
(Juglans nigra L.) in appearance and finish, takes a good polish, seasons and works 
well, is hard, heavy (about 48 pounds per cubic foot), moderately strong, and durable. 
Pores small, isolated or in groups of two or three, evenly distributed and more or less 
surrounded by wood parenchyma. Pith rays small, inconspicuous. 

40. Acacia nudifiora Willd. Cojoba, Cojobana, Tamarindo cimarron. Acacia nudosa. 

Tree from 25 to 50 feet high and about a foot in diameter, with a limited-distribution 
on the east coast. Wood brown, tinged with red, somewhat coarse and straight- 
grained, taking a good polish. It is hard, heavy, strong, moderately tough, and 
durable. Pores rather large and arranged in more or less irregular tangential rows 
visible on smooth transverse surface. 

Note. — Another species, Acacia riparia H. B. K. (Zarza), is reported as quite 
generally distributed on the island. It attains at times a height of 45 feet and 
has a wood similar to the above. 

*4:1. Leucaena glauca (L.) Benth. Acacia palida, Hediondilla; Ipil-Ipil (Philippine 

Islands). 

Tree from 25 to 30 feet high and sometimes a foot in diameter, quite common tlirough- 
out the island and tropical America generally. The tree is especially well adapted 
for reforestation of grassy wastes because of the ease with which it establishes itself in 
competition with the grass sod and its rapid growth. Wood used locally for making 
tools, handles, etc. 

Wood brownish, tinged with red, rather coarse and straight-grained, taking a good 
polish. It is hard, heavy, strong, tough, and very durable. Pores rather large, 
solitary, and evenly distributed. Pith rays very narrow and indistinct. 

42. Adenanthera pavonina L. CoraUtas, Mato, Mato Colorado, Palo de mato, Pero- 
nilas. 

Tree seldom more than 30 feet high, introduced from the East Indies, and growing 
spontaneously in many places. The wood resembles red sandalwood (Pterocarpus) 
and is used for making a red dye. The seeds when crushed and mixed with borax 
make an adhesive substance. Wood used for house building and cabinetmaking. 



TREES OF PORTO RICO. 73 

Wood takes a good polish and is hard, heavy, strong, and durable. Pores moder- 
ately large, solitary, and surrounded by abundant wood parenchyma, which occa- 
sionally forms tangential lines. Pith rays very numerous and inconspicuous. 

*4:3. Piptadenia peregrina (L.) Benth. Cojobana, Cojoba, Cojobillo, Cojobo. 

Tree about 60 feet in height and about a foot in diameter, quite generally distributed 
on the island. In central and South America it grows to be a very large tree, yielding 
valuable timber known as "yoke," but in Porto Rico no uses have been recorded 
except for fuel and charcoal. 

Wood dark reddish-brown, close-grained, hard, heavy, strong, tough, and very 
durable. 

44. Stahliamonosperma (Till.) Vrh. Cobana negra, C6bana, Cobano, PoUsandro. 

Tree from 20 to 30 feet high and about a foot in diameter, found chiefly along the 
coast and watercourses. The wood is much used for making furniture, also for rail- 
road ties for the cane roads. Wood is black, hard, heavy, strong, and tough. 

*45. Ilymensea courbaril L. Algarrobo, Courbaril, Quapinole jutahv, Jatoba; Locust 
tree (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 30 to 90 feet high, with a diameter of from 4 to 6 feet, well distributed 
throughout the island. The wood is used largely for the cogwheels of sugar mills, 
for wagon wheels, in carpentry, and especially for cabinet work and fine furniture. 
A resin, known as American copal, resina copal, and courbaril obtained from tliis tree 
is used as a medicament and for ornaments. The fruit is sometimes used as food. 

Wood, red with light and dark streaks; sapwood lighter, beautiful, somewhat 
resembling mahogany, very fine grained, capable of a high polish, hard, heavy (about 
64 pounds per cubic foot), tough, durable (except when placed underground), and 
seasons well. Pores moderately small, isolated or in groups of two to four, evenly 
distributed, surrounded by wood parenchyma, which often connects them tan^en- 
tially. Annual rings of growth clearly visible^ Pith rays small, scarcely visible 
to the unaided eye on a smooth transverse surface? 

*46. Tamarindus indica L. Tamarindo; Tamarind (Br. W. I. ). 

Tree from 20 to 60 feet high, very common throughout the island, and widely 
cultivated in the Tropics for the acid pulp of its fruit. It is a beautifiil ornamental 
tree, well adapted for roadside planting. Its leaves, bark, seeds, and flowers all 
have medicinal and other useful properties. Probably native to tropical Africa. 
The wood is highly esteemed for the handles of tools, as axes and hoes, is sometimes 
used for building pm-poses, and is said to furnish excellent charcoal for the manu- 
facture of gunpowder. 

Wood light yellow, fine and cross grained, hard, heavy (about 59 pounds per cubic 
foot), tough, elastic, and very durable. Pores moderately small, isolated or in groups 
of two or tlaree, evenly distributed, often connected by conspicuous tangential lines 
of wood parenchyma. Pith rays minute, very inconspicuous. 

47. Bauhima kappleri Sagot. Flamboyan bianco, SepUna, Varietal. 

Tree from 30 to 50 feet high, introduced from Asia. Grows spontaneously in many 
parts of the island. Wood used for fuel .and sometimes for making small articles of 
furniture. Wood brownish in color and very handsome, fine grained, and" takes a 
beautiful polish. 

*48. Cassia fistula 1j. Caiiafistula. 

Cultivated tree from 20 to 60 feet high and about a foot in diameter, a native of 
tropical Asia, and very common over the entire island. Wood is used for fuel, the 
bark for tanning, and the pulp of the pods medicinally. Wood of a reddish color, 
hard, heavy (about 60 pounds per cubic foot), strong, tough and durable. 

*49. Cassia grandis L. Canafistula cimarrona. 

_ Cultivated tree from 40 to 60 feet high and from 1 foot to 1^ feet in diameter, occur- 
ring mostly in the southwestern part of the island, found to soine extent in a wild 



74 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

state. Wood used for carpentry and caVjinetwork. Wood reddish-brown, handsome, 
fine and straight grained, taking a high polish, hard, heavy (about 51 pounds per 
cubic foot), strong, and durable. 

*50. Jhvmatoxylum campechianum L. Palo de Campeche, Campeche; Logwood. 

Tree from 20 to 40 feet high and 6 or more inches in diameter, occurring in 
the western part of the island chiefly along the coast and throughout tropical America. 
It is occasionally planted on the island for its wood, the logwood of commerce, which 
is used in making dyes. 

Wood blood red, very fine and cross grained, taking a very high polish, hard, heavy, 
strong, tough, and very durable. 

51. Painciana regia Boj. Flamboydn, Flamboyan Colorado; Flame tree (Br. W. I.). 

Cultivated tree from 45 to 60 feet high, found mostly in the western part of the 

island. Native of Madagascar. It is a beautiful ornamental shade tree very common 

in the West Indies and widely planted throughout the Tropics. Wood little used. 

Wood white, moderately fine grained, taking a good polish, but soft, light, and not 
strong. Pores small, isolated or in groups of two or three, evenly distributed. Tan- 
gential lines of wood-parenchyma fibers very prominent. Pith rays minute, very 
inconspicuous. 

53. Ormosia Jcrugii Urb. Palo de mate, Mato, Peronia. 

Tree from 30 to 80 feet high, with a limited occurrence throughout the island. The 
wood is used only for charcoal. Wood very light, soft, and inferior. 

53. Sesbania grandiflora (L.) Pers. Gallito, Bdculo, Cresta de gallo. 

A tall shrub or small cultivated tree from 10 to 30 feet high, quite generally planted 
over the island. Probably a native of the East Indies. The wood is used for poles, 
posts of native houses, and firewood. Parts of the tree are used medicinally and as 
food. Wood white, soft, light, and not durable. Pores of medium size, isolated or 
in groups of two to five, evenly distributed. Pith rays small, indistinct. 

*54. Pictetia aculeata (Vahl.) Urb. (=P. aristata P. DC). Tachuelo, Hachuelo. 

Tree from 15 to 30 feet high, found chiefly in the southern and eastern coastal 
regions. The wood is often used in native house construction for underpinning, 
shingles, and shelving, and for cabinet work. It becomes with age extremely hard, 
80 that it will turn the edge of almost any woodworking tool. It is somewhat used 
for fuel, but the charcoal burner avoids it because of the eff^t upon his ax. 

Wood dark brown, fine, and straight grained, taking a very high polish, extremely 
hard, heavy, strong, tough, lasting almost indefinitely in contact with the soil. Pores 
rather small and connected by numerous fine tangential lines, which are visible 
only under a hand lens on a smooth transverse surface. 

55. Pterocarpus officinalis Jacq. Palo polio, Palo de polio. 

Tree from 75 to 90 feet high and from 1 foot to 2 feet in diameter, found chiefly in 
swampy localities in Porto Rico, but more generally distributed in other parts of the 
West Indies and Central America. Wood is used for fuel. 

Wood light brown or rusty colored, fine and straight grained. It does not take a 
very high polish and is soft, light (about 35 pounds per cubic foot), weak, brittle, 
and not durable in contact with the soil. 

56. Lonchocarpus. 

This genus is represented in Porto Rico by three species which are of but slight 
economic importance. Lonchocarpus latlfoUiis (W.) H. B. K. (Palo Hediondo, Forte 
Ventura), a tree occasionally 60 feet high found in many parts of the island. The 
wood, sometimes used locally for furniture, is reddish \vith occasional dark or black 
streaks. Lonchocarpus domingcnsis (Pers.) P. DC. (Geno-geno), and Lonchocarpus 
glaucifolius Urb. (Geno), tree from 15 to 45 feet high with a limited distribution in 
the western part of the island. Wood used for fuel. 



TREES OF PORTO RICO. 75 

*57. Pisddia piscipula (L.) Sarg. Ventura. 

Tree often 60 feet high and about 2 feet in diameter. It has a very limited occur- 
rence along the shores of the island. Wood is light yellow-brown, very fine and 
straight grained, taking a very good polish, hard, heavy (about 54 pounds per cubic 
foot), strong, tough, and very durable in contact with the ground. Pores rather 
large, not numerous, and surrounded by softer tissue which is clearly visible in 
transverse surface as numerous tangential bands. 

58. Andira jamaicensis (W. Wr.) Urb. Moca, Moca blanca; Cabbage tree (Br. W. I.); 

Bastard cabbage-bark, Angelin (Jamaica). 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet high and from 12 to 30 inches in diameter, quite generally 
distributed in the forests throughout the island. The wood is very suitable for piles, 
bridges, boat construction, the hubs of wheels, flooring, and all kinds of carpentry 
work. Its most common use in Porto Rico is for the framework of country houses. 
The wood is imported into Europe and this country for walking sticks and umbrella 
and parasol handles and for the turned parts of cabinetwork. 

Wood reddish-yellow with dark streaks, cross and coarse-grained, capable of a high 
polish, hard, heavy (from 47 to 55 pounds per cubic foot), strong, tough, and espe- 
cially durable in water. Pores moderately large, isolated or sometimes in groups of 
two to four, evenly distributed, and connected by tangential branching lines of wood- 
parenchyma fibers. Pith rays narrow, indistinct. 

59. Erythrina. 

A genus represented in Porto Rico by two native and one introduced species. Of 
the native species Erythrina corallodendron L. (Bucare, Piiion espinoso; Red bean 
tree [Jamaica]; Coral wood, Arbol madre [Mexico]) is a shrub or small tree from 10 to 
20 feet high, found chiefly on limestone hills, whale Erythrina glauca Willd. (Bucago) 
is from 30 to 40 feet high, with a limited occurrence, usually along rivers. Both 
species occiir quite generally throughout tropical America'. Their wood is made into 
corks, floats for fishing nets, light ladders, etc., and is light in color, coarse-grained, 
corky, soft, light, and weak. Pores of medium size, isolated or in groups of two or 
three, evenly distributed. Pith rays easily distinguishable on a smooth transverse 
surface. Erythrina micropteryx Poepp. (Bucare, Palo de boyo ; Bois immortelle, Madre 
de cacao [S. Am.]) is a tree from 45 to 60 feet high, cultivated in many localities on the 
island, mostly on coffee plantations, for its shade. Indigenous in Peru. Wood soft, 
similar to the other two species. 

XV. Zygophyllace^. 
*60. Guajacum officinale L. Guayacdn, Lignum-vitse. 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet high and from 12 to 18 inches in diameter, occurring chiefly 
along the southern coast. The wood is highly esteemed for its wearing qualities, and 
is widely used for pulleys, rollers for casters, wooden cogs, mortars, hubs for wheels, 
and wherever great strength and hardness are required. 

Wood dull yellowish-brown with dark olive-brown streaks, very fine, close and 
cross grained, greasy to the touch, takes a fine polish, and is extremely hard and 
heavy (about 85 pounds per cubic foot), very tough, and durable. Pores minute, 
isolated, and easily distributed. Pith rays minute and very inconspicuous. 

_ Note. — Another species said formerly to have been abundant by now of only 
limited occurrence along the south coast is Guajacum sanctum L. (Guayacdn 
bianco, Guayacancillo), a shrub or tree from 30 to 45 feet high, having a wood 
similar to that of the preceding. 

XVI. RUTACE^. 

61. Fagara^ martinicensis Lam. Cenizo, Eapino, Espino rubial, Ayua; Prickly ash 
(Br. W^ I.). 

Tree from 40 to 80 feet high and from 1 foot to 3 feet in diameter, found in the moun- 
tain forests throughout the island. The wood is used for furniture and cabinetwork 
and also for house building. The bark contains a dye. 

I FagaTa= Zanthoxylum. 



76 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

Wood ^ light yellow, fine and straight grained, taking a very beautiful polish, hard, 
heavy (60 pounds per cubic foot), strong, somewhat brittle, and not considered dura- 
ble for outside work. Pores small, solitary or sometimes grouped in twos and threes. 
Pith rays very narrow and scarcely visible under the hand lens. 

*63. Fagaraflava (Vahl.) Kr. et Urb. Satinwood, Yellow wood (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 10 to 30 feet high and from 10 to 12 inches in dfameter with a limited 
distribution in the southwestern part of the island. The wood is used for veneering, 
cabinetwork, and furniture. It is too valuable for structural purposes. It was for- 
merly exported as a substitute for the true satinwood (Chloroxylon swieteniu DC.) of 
India. 

, Wood light yellow, but darkening with age. It has a satiny luster on a longitudinal 
surface, where it shows when polished a beautiful rippled pattern. It is hard, heavy 
(about 60 pounds per cubic foot), strong, and moderately tough. Structure of wood 
similar to the preceding. 

Note. — ^^Other species of this genus in Porto Rico are Fagara caribasa Krug et 
Urb. (Espino Rubial), a tree fi'om 30 to 60 feet hifrh; Fagnra vionophijUa Lam. 
(Carubio, Mapurito, Rubia, Espino, Espino Rubial); and Fagara trifoUata Sw. 
(Espino Rubial), trees from 10 to 30 feet high, each commonly occurrin'? in the 
foothills and south coast regions. 

63. Ravenia urbani Engl. Tortugo Prieto. 

Tree from 30 to 50 feet high, of rare occurrence, reported only from the high forest 
region of the Sierra de Luquillo. 

64. Amyris maritima Jacq. Tea, Palo de tea. 

Tree from 15 to 30 feet high and fi'om 4 to 8 inches in diameter, growing in thic-kets 
near the sea. It is very suitable for furniture, and splinters are used as torches by 
tlie natives. It is especially useful in exposed situations. 

Wood light yellow, with a spicy odor, very fine-grained, and oily to the touch. It 
takes a fine polish and is hard, heavy, strong, and durable. Pores minute, isolated 
or in gi'oups of two to twelve,- sometimes more, evenly distributed. Pith rays very 
small and inconspicuous. 

*NoTE. — Another species of but slight importance in Porto Rico is Amyris bal- 
samifera L. (Tea; rosewood or torchwood [Jamaica]), a tree from 15 to 20 feet high, 
with whitish wood very similar in properties and uses to A. maritima. 

*65. Citrus aurantium L. China dulce, Naranja China; Sweet orange (Br. W. I.). 

A cultivated tree from 15 to 40 feet high and occasionally nearly a foot in diameter. 
A native of southern Asia, it has been widely introduced throughout the Tropics. It 
is planted everywhere on the island and to some extent grows spontaneously. The 
wood is much used for making walking sticks, in cabinetwork, and for kniekknacka 
of various sorts. The fruit varies widely in quality and size, but the best of it is heavy 
and juicy and has a finp flavor. 

Wood light yellow, close and straight grained, taking a beautiful polish, hard, heavy 
(about 55 pounds per cubic foot), very strong, tough, and durable. Pores very small, 
numerous, and more or less evenly distributed. Numerous fine tangential lines of 
soft tissue \'isible on a smooth transverse surface under the hand lens. Pith rays 
very narrow, numerous, and inconspicuous. 

Note. — The principal horticultural varieties also cultivated for their fruit, 
some of which are to be found growing in the semi wild state, are: Citrus bigaradia 
Loisel (Naranja; Sour orange [Br. W. I.]); Citrus decumana T>. (Toronja, Pomelo, 
Grapefruit); Citrus hystrir, subsp., acidu (Roxb.) Bona\'ia (Lima, Lime); Citrus 
limonum Risso (Limon, Lemon); Citrus medica L. (Toronja, Cidra, Citron, Citrus 
limetta, Bergamota, Limon dulce, Sweet lemon). 

> See pp. 10 and 11, Forest Service Circular 184, "Fustic Wood: Its Adulterants." 



TREES OF PORTO RICO. 77 

XVII. SlMARUBACE^. 

*66. Simaruha tulx Urb. Aceitillo; West Indian satinwood (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 20 to 50 feet high and from 12 to 18 inches in diameter, occurring in moun- 
tain forests from the Luqiiillos to Maricao. It is reported formerly to have been plen- 
tiful on the limestone uplands north of Lares, in associat-on Avith moralon and capa . 
blanca, and to have been cut into lumber for building purposes. Now so scarce as to 
be no longer of any importance. Elsewhere in tropical America it is considered one 
of the rarest and most expensive ornamental woods for furniture and interior finish, 
being so much sought after that the stumps are often dug up and cut into veneer. 

Wood Ught yellow, very fine, and often wavy-grained, taking a high polish, hard, 
heavy (about 55 pounds per cubic foot), strong, and durable. Pores small, isolated 
or in groups of two or three, evenly distributed. Pith rays narrow, not visible to the 
unaided eye. 

67. Picramnia pentandra Sw. Guarema, Hueso, Hueso prieto, Palo de hueso. 

Tree from 15 to 35 feet, high and from 15 to 25 inches in diameter, occuning quite 
generally on the island. Wood used in house building. 

Wood dark colored, fine grained, taking a good polish, hard, and very heavy (about 
76 pounds per cubic foot). Pores small, isolated or in groups of two or three, evenly 
distributed. Pith rays nari'ow, inconspicuous. 

XVIII. BuRSERACEiE. 

68. Tetragastris balsamifera (Sw.) O. Kuntze. Masa, Masa Colorado, Palo de aceite, 

Palo de masa; Copal (Guatemala). 

A common forest tree from 20 to 70 feet high and from 16 to 20 inches in diameter, 
found in the mountainous parts of the island. This tree yields a very d.esirable wood 
for interior work of houses. 

Wood rose-colored or yellowish, beautiful, fragrant, and fine-grained, moderately 
hai'd, light, strong, and very durable. Pores small, isolated or in groups of two to four, 
evenly distributed. Pith rays small, inconspicuous. 

69. Dacryodes excelsa Vahl. Tabanuco, Tabonuco; Candle wood (Br. W. T.). 

A tree from 60 to 75 feet high and from 3 to 5 feet in diameter, found quite generally 
in the mountainous regions, especially in the Luquillos, where it often occiu's in large 
stands. One of the most valuable trees on the island for lumber, because of its large 
size, straightness of bole, and occurrence in close, pure stands. A resin obtained 
from the gum is used extensively by the natives for candles and torches, as incense, 
and medicinally. The wood is used for flooring, ceiling, etc., and is often stained 
and sold as mahogany. 

Wood brown, sometimes cross and fine gi'ained, often giving a "satiny" appearance. 
It is similar in physical properties to om yellow poplar {Liriodendron tulipifera L.), 
lumber dealers of this country placing them in the same class. Tabanuco is, however, 
handsomer and finer grained than yellow poplar and capable of a higher polish. It is 
moderately hard, heavy, strong, and not durable when exposed. Pores small, soli- 
tary, or in gi'oups of two or two or three, and evenly distributed. Pith rays small, 
inconspicuous. 

*70. Bursera simaruha (L) Sarg. {=B. gummifera, Jacq.). Almdcigo; Gumbo limbo. 
West Indian birch (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 20 to 40 feet high, very common on the island. This is the largest tree 
of the chapan-al forests on the limestone hills of the south side of the island. Like the 
jobo {Spondias Intea), it is readily propogated from cuttings, even from stakes of large 
size. It is therefore used for "Live" fence posts and is one of the commonest trees 
to be seen along the roadside, where it also serves, though poorly, for the purpose 
of shade. The wood is of little value. 

_ Wood light brown, ofteii with dark discolorations, fine grained, very soft, spongy, 
light, weak, and very liable to decay. Pores numerous, small, isolated or in groups of 
two or three, sometimes more. Pith rays very inconspicuous. 



78 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUBE. 

XIX. Meliace^. 

*71. Cedrela odorata L. Cedro, Cedro hembra; West Indian cedar; Spanish cedar; 
Cigar-box cedar (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 50 to 100 feet high and from 4 to 6 feet in diameter, formerly common 
to all parts of the island, but now rare except in the inaccessible places. Spanish 
cedar is one of the most highly esteemed woods in the West Indies and is used for 
more purposes than any other. Its principal use, however, is for cigar boxes. 

The wood is pale reddish-brown, but varies considerably from very light to very 
dark, depending upon the age and the kind of soil in which it grows. It has a general 
appearance similar to that of mahogany and pos.s(;.sses a characteristic fragrant odor. 
It is moderately soft, light (about 30 pounds per cubic foot), rather strong, somewhat 
tough, and very durable in contact with the soil. Pores are rather large, not numerous, 
solitary, or often in small groups distributed evenly throughout the wood. Pith raye 
few, narrow, and indistinct to the naked eye. 

*72. Swietenia mahagoni Jacq. Caoba; Mahogany (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 50 to 100 feet high and from 3 to 5 feet in diameter; This tree has not 
been reported from Porto Rico by recent botanical explorers. There is some evidence, 
however, that mahogany occurred at one time on the island. It is the most highly 
esteemed wood for furniture and interior finish. No other wood has such a wide range 
of uses and so many substitutes. 

Wood light or dark brown, with a very pleasing appearance when polished. It is 
fine and cross grained, works rather easily, hard, heavy (varies from 35 to 67 pounds 
per cubic foot), strong, tough, and very durable. Pores are moderately large, often 
filled with white or brown substance (tyloses), and arranged singly or in small groups; 
pith rays inconspicuous to the unaided eye. 

*73. Melia azedarach L. Alilaila, Lilaila, Pasilla; China berry (Br. W. I.) 

Tree from 20 to 50 feet high and from 8 to 15 inches in diameter, cultivated and 
growing spontaneously in various parts of the island, including the Cordillera Central 
and the limestone formation of the western and southwestern coast. This tree has 
been introduced from Asia and is now very common throughout tropical and sub- 
tropical parts of the world for shade and ornament. The wood is sometimes used by 
the country people for tool handles and the like. 

Wood mahogany colored, with a coarse and straight grain, moderately soft, light, weak, 
and not durable in contact with the soil. Pores rather large in early wood, which ren- 
der the boundary of the annual rings of growth usually very conspicuous; the pores 
in the late wood are much smaller and inconspicuous. 

*NoTE.— An umbrella variety of the alilaila, Melia azedarach umbraculifera 
Sarg. (Umbrella China tree, China berry (Br. W. I.), which was developed in 
Texas in about 1880, is planted in Porto Rico merely for shade and ornament. 
The wood has characteristics similar to the one above. 

*74. Guarea trichilioides L. Guaraguao, Acajou; Musk wood (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 40 to 80 feet high and sometimes 6 feet in diameter. It occtu-s in mountain 
forests from the Luquillos to Maricao and is one of the leading woods of the island, 
being very highly prized by the natives. Because of the great demand it is now rather 
scarce. Its principal uses locally are for strong wagons and carriages, farm imple- 
ments, and general carpentry. The wood resembles mahogany and Spanish cedar 
and is useful for the same purposes. 

Wood light reddish-brown, sometimes streaked with lighter and darker shades, 
hard, moderately heavy, strong, tough, and very durable in contact Avith the soil. 
It has in a general way the appearance of dark-colored mahogany and an odor resem- 
bling musk. Pores small, very numerous, and connected by fine tangential lines 
of softer tissue which are scarcely visible to the unaided eye. Pith rays very narrow, 
numerous, and inconspicuous. 

*NoTE. — Another and little-known species of this genus is G. ramiflora 
Vent. (Guaraguaillo, Guaraguao macho), a tree usually under 25 feet and rarely 



TREES OF PORTO RICO. 79 

60 feet high, occurring in the forests, widely distributed, but not plentiful, 
throughout the uplands from the Luquillos to Mayaguez. Wood similar to the one 
above. 

75. Tricliilia. 

Three species of this genera occur in Porto Rico: Tricliilia pallida Sw. (Caracolillo, 
Gaita, Ramoncillo, Cabo de hacha); Trichilia hirta L. (Cabo de hacha, Guaita, Jobillo, 
Molinillo, Palo de anastasio, Retamo, Guayavacon) ; and Trichilia triacantha Urb., 
trees from 15 to 60 feet high, occurring principally in the mountainous regions of the 
island and to some extent in the limestone hills of the south coast. Wood, though 
very similar to that of G. trichilioides, is seldom used except for fuel. 

XX. Malpighiace^. 

*76. Byrsonima spicata (Cav.) L. Gl. Rich. Maricao. 

Tree from 20 to 60 feet high and from 18 to 24 inches in diameter, occurring quite 
generally in forests throughout the island. The wood is used for furniture and house 
building. The bark is astringent and is used for tanning. 

Wood dull reddish brown, moderately fine grained, taking a good polish, moder- 
ately hard, heavy, and strong. Pores small, isolated or in groups of two or three, 
evenly distributed. Pith rays narrow, inconspicuous. 

*77. Byrsonima ludda (Sw.) L. CI. Rich. Palo de doncella, Sangre de doncella. 

Tree from 20 to 30 feet high, quite widely distributed on the island. The wood ia 
highly esteemed for furniture and interior finish. Wood dark brown, very fine 
grained, taking a good polish, moderately hard, heavy, and strong. Pores minute, 
isolated, or in groups of two or three, evenly distributed. Pith rays very narrow and 
inconspicuous. 

XXI. EUPHORBIACE^. 

78. Phyllanthus. 

Two species of this genera are found in Porto Rico, one a native (Phyllanthus nobilis 
var. antillanus (Juss.) Miill. (Amortiguado; Avispillo, Higuerillo, Higuillo, Millo, 
Palo de millo, Siete-cueros [mas.], Yaquillo [fem.]) is a tree from 30 to 60 feet high, 
widely distributed on the island; the other Phyllanthus distichiis (L.) Miill. (Grosella, 
Groseila blanca, Cerezas, Cereza amarilla,_ Otaheite gooseberry), introduced from 
India, is a tree from 15 to 30 feet hi^h, cultivated for the sake of its fruit. Wood of 
both ia but little used, although very beautiful, white, hard, strong, and tough. 

*79. Drypetes lateriflora (Sw.) Kr. et Urb. Varital; Florida or Guiana plum, White- 
wood (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 20 to 30 feet high and from 5 to 10 inches in diameter, found principally 
near Bayamon. It is also common in southern Florida and on the islands of the West 
Indies. Wood rich dark brown, very fine and cross grained, hard, heavy (about 58 
pounds per cubic foot),_ not strong, brittle, and liable to check in drying. Pores small, 
solitary, or in short radial rows, mth numerous very fine tangential lines of softer tissue 
present. Pith rays very numerous and inconspicuous. 

80. Drypetes alba Poit. Cafeillo, Hueso, Palo de vaca bianco. 

Tree from 15 to 60 feet high found in the mountain forests of the Sien-a de Luquillo 
and Cordillera Central. The wood is often used for hubs of wheels, and also for fuel 
and charcoal. 

Wood light yellow, with irregular, thin, yellowish-brown streaks, fine and cross 
grained, taking a high polish, hard, moderately heavy, strong, tough, and difficult 
to split. Pores rather small, solitary or in short interrupted radial rows, evenly dis- 
tributed. Pith rays very nan-ow, but plainly visible on a smooth surface under the 
hand lens. 

Note. — Another species of this genera of slight importance, yielding a wood 
of inferior quality which is seldom used except for fuel and charcoal, is Drypetes 
glauca Vahl. (Palo bianco, Cafeillo, Varital, Palo de aceituna), a tree from 20 to 
50 feet liigh and from 1 to 2 feet in diameter, generally distributed throughout the 
mountain forests and somewhat in the woodlands along the south coast. It ia 
also common throughout a number of the islands of the West Indies. The wood 
is of inferior quality. 



80 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

81. A group of unimportant genera of this family, each represented by a single species, 
comprises Ilieroni/mia clusioides (Tal.) Mull. (Cedro macho), a tree from 45 to 
100 feet liigh, occurring in the western parts of the island. Native also to other 
of the West Indies. There are no recorded uses for the wood nor descriptions 
of its characteristics. Alchorneopsis porloricensis Urban. (Palo de gallina), tree 
from 30 to 50 feet high, kno^vn only from the Luquillo, and central regions of the island. 
It yields a soft wood of little use. Alchornca latifolia S\v. (Achiotillo, Palo de cotorra, 
Yobillo), a tree from 25 to 60 feetlugh, qiute \\'idely distributed, yielding a wood mth 
properties similar to that of Palo de gallina. Sapium laurocerusus Desf. (Hincha- 
huevos, Lechesillo, Mauzanillo, Tabeiba), a tree from 15 to 50 feet high, widely dis- 
tributed in mountainous regions on the island . 

*82. Aleuritcs moluccana (L.) Willd. (= A. triloba Forst.). Nuez,, Nuez de India; 
Candleberry tree, Candlenut, Indian walnut (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 20 to 40 feet high. Introduced from tropical Asia and the South Sea 
Islands and planted here and there throughout Porto Rico. It is useful mainly for 
sliade tlu"oughout the Tropics and for the nuts it bears, which are called "kukui" 
nuts in the Sandwich Islands. Wood Little used . 

Wood very light yellow, soft, light, weak, and not durable in contact with the soil. 
Pores small, isolated or in groups of two to five, radially disposed, and evenly distrib- 
uted. Pith rays minute and very inconspicuous. 

*83. Hippomane mancinella L." Manzanillo, Macliineel. 

Tree from 15 to 50 feet in height, occurring in the coastal regions. It has a poisonous 
acid sap wliich necessitates considerable care being taken in felling and in thoroughly 
seasoning the wood before working. The wood is suitable for furniture and is used 
lai^ely for veranda floors and weatherboarding because of its durability when exposed. 

Wood yellowish brown, with darker stripes, beautiful, slightly fragrant, straight 
and very fine grained, resembUng in general appearance and textiu'e the boxwood of 
commerce {Buxus sempervirens L.). It takes a high polish, is hard, varies from light 
to heavy (from .36 to 50 pounds per cubic foot), strong, tough, very durable, and very 
easy to work; in all these qualities this wood resembles mahogany. The pores are 
minute, numerous, solitary, and evenly distributed. Pith rays minute, scarcely 
visible to the unaided eye on a radial smface. 

84. Hura crepitans L. Javillo, Molinillo, Havillo, Havarilla; Sand-box tree, Mon- 
key's dinner bell (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 20 to 50 feet high and from 1 foot to 2^ feet in diameter, introduced from 
South America. It is planted extensiA^ely throughout the island for shade, because 
of its spreading crown. The acid irritant sap necessitates careful felUng and season- 
ing of the wood before working. The wood is valued locally for making canoes and 
for interior work in houses. In some parts of the West Indies the trunks are often hol- 
lowed and used extensively for holding cane sugar. 

Wood very light brown, with darker brown stripes, fine and straight grained, taking 
a fine polish. It is soft, light (about 31 pounds per cubic foot), extremely brittle, 
and is said to resist the action of water. Pores very small and evenly distributed 
throughout the annual rings of growth. Pith rays very inconspicuous. 

XXII. ANACARDIACEiE. 

*85. Mangifera indica L. Mango. 

A cultivated and sparingly naturalized tree from 30 to 50 feet high and from 12 to 
18 inches in diameter, native of southern Asia or the Malay Archipelago. It yields 
a very common but highly prized frmt of the Tropics, comparable in quaUty and 
value with the apple or the orange, though entirely different from either in texture 
and flavor. The wood is useful for the same purposes as om* common ash (Fraxinus), 
gunstocks, tool handles, window frames, etc. 

Wood grayish brown, fine grained, hard, heavy (about 50 pounds per cubic foot), 
strong, tough, and elastic. Pores small, isolated or in groups of two to four, evenly 
distributed. Pith rays narrow, inconspicuous. 



TREES OF PORTO RICO. 81 

86. Anacardium occidentale L. Pajuil, Cajuil, Acaju, Maranon; Cashew tree ('Br. 

W. I.). 
A wild and cultivated tree from 20 to 40 feet high and from 9 to 12 inches in 
diameter, occiuring in all parts of the island. It is used largely in boat building, for 
carriage hubs, yokes, and farm utensils. Its principal use in Porto Rico is for char- 
coal and fuel. The nuts are edible when roasted, and yield oils which are useful for 
many purposes. An acrid irritant substance contained in the soft shell of the nuts 
necessitates care in handling them. This is driven off as poisonous fumes in roasting. 

Wood pinkish, fine grained, hard, moderately heavy (about 36 pounds per cubic 
foot), strong, and dvnable. Pores small, isolated or in gi'oups of two to fom-, evenly 
distributed. Pith rays small, inconspicuous. 

87. Spondias mombin L. (=5. lutea L.). Jobo; Hog plum (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 30 to 40 feet high and from 1 foot to 2 feet in diameter. Very common 
throughout the island, particularly along roadsides. It is much used for stakes and 
fence posts, which are very durable because they take root and Uve. It is probably 
due to this property, as with the almacigo (Bursera simaruba), more than to any 
specially favorable quality as a shade tree that they are so commonly found along 
roadsides. It is one of the trees commonly pollarded for fuel wood and bears an edible 
fruit which is much esteemed. 

Wood yellowish brown, fine gi'ained, soft, light (about 30 pounds per cubic foot), 
and moderately strong. Pores small, isolated or in groups of two or three, evenly 
distributed. Pith rays minute, very inconspicuous. 

88. Spondias purpurea L. Ciruela, Ciruela del pais, Jobillo, Jobofrances; Spanish 

plum (Br. W. I.). 

A tree or shrub from 20 to 30 feet high, occm-ring in mountainous regions. It is 
often cultivated for its fruit, which is considered superior to S. mombin. Wood in 
all respects similar to S. mombin. 

89. Metopium toxiferum (L.) Krug. et. Urb. Cedro prieto, Papayo; Poison wood, 

Hog plum (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 30 to 50 feet high, with a short trunk sometimes 2 feet in diameter. It 
has a limited distribution in the southwestern part of the island, and occurs through- 
out the West Indies and on the keys of southern Florida. 

Wood rich, dark brown streaked with red, fine and straight grained, resembling 
the wood of our native sumacs. It takes a fine poUsh, is easily worked, moderately 
hard, heavy (about 50 pounds per cubic foot), not strong, and only moderately tough. 
Pores small, very numerous, and evenly distributed throughout the wood. Pith 
rays very narrow and inconspicuous. 

XXIII. Aquifoliace^. 

90. Ilex nitida (Vahl.) Maxim. (=7. dioica Griseb.) Cuero de sapo, Brigueta naranjo, 

Hueso prieto, Palo de hueso. 

Tree from 20 to 60 feet high and from 10 to 15 inches in diameter, occurring in the 
mountain forests of the Luquillo region and generally throughout the island. The 
wood is, used for fuel and for hut building. Wood light-colored, fine-grained, hard, 
and heavy. 

SI. Ilex sideroxyloides var. ocddentaUs (Macf.) Loes. Gongolin; Central American oak 
(Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 30 to 50 feet high, occurring in the mountain forests of the Luqiiillo 
region. Wood of little use. Wood flesh-colored, hard, and heavy. 

XXIV. CELASTRACEyE. 

92. Elseodendron xylocarpum var. corymbosum (Vahl.) Urb. Cocorron, Coscorron, 
Guayarote. 

Shrub or tree from 10 to 30 feet high, occiuring quite generally along the seacoasts 
of the island. Wood fine-grained. Pores minute, isolated, or in groups of two or 
three, evenly distributed. Pith rays moderately narrow but conspicous. 

21871°— Bull. 354—16 6 



82 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGEICULTURE. 

XXV. Stapiiyleace^. 

93. Turpinia paniculata Vent. Avispillo, Cedro hembra, Eiigenio, Lilaililla, Sauco 

Cimarron. 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet or more high, occurring in the mountains and waste places. 
The wood, which is used for fuel and charcoal, is somewhat similar to that of out blad- 
der nut {Staphylea trifolia L.). 

XXVI. Sapindaceje. 

94. Thouinia striata Radlk. Ceboniquillo, Guara, Quiebra hacha, Seburoquillo. 

Tree from 25 to 65 feet high, occurring generally throughout the island, usually in 
the drier situations. No uses are reported for the wood, doubtless because of its extreme 
hardness. 

Wood light-colored , very fine-grained , with many fine light iines. giving a pleasing 
figure. It takes a fine polish and is extremely hard, heavy, strong, and tough. Pores 
minute, isolated, or in groups of two or three, evenly distributed. Pith rays minute, 
inconspicuous. 

95. Melicoccabijuga L. Guenepa, Quenepas; Genip tree, Genipe; Ginep(Br. W. I.). 
A cultivated and semiwild tree from 25 to 60 feet high and up to 3 feet in diameter 

reported from the east, south, and west parts of the island. It is native of tropical 
America and is found throughout the West Indies. It is cultivated somewhat for its 
fruit and is also suitable for ornament and for roadside shade. Wood is said to be 
heavy and hard and useful for all purposes except in exposed situations. No local 
uses are reported. 

*96. Cupania. 

There are two species of this genera represented in the tree flora of Porto Rico, 
namely, Cupania americana L. (Guara, Guara blanca), and Cupania triquetra A. Rich. 
(Guara). 

Trees from 30 to 60 feet high, quite widely distributed locally, and occurring gener- 
ally throughout the West Indies. The woods of all are alike and are used largely for 
posts. 

Wood very light brown, with a conspicuous wavy grain. It takes a high poUsh, is 
soft, moderately Ught, and brittle. Pores solitary or in groups of two or three, evenly 
distributed. Pith rays minute, very inconspicuous. 

*97. Matayaba domingensis (DC.) Radlk. Doncella, Tea cimarrona, Raton. 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet high and from 8 to 10 inches in diameter, occurring chiefly in 
Luqiullo and central mountain regions. It is found also in the other Greater Antilles. 
No local uses for the wood are reported. 

Wood red, fine and straight grained, taking a beautiful polish and resembling dark- 
colored mahogany. It is hard, heavy, strong, tough, and very durable. Pores rather 
large, solitary, and evenly distributed ; pith rays are narrow and more or less indistinct 
except under the hand lens. 

Note.— Another species Matayaba apetala (Macf.) Radlk. (Doncella) is also 
reported from the same localities. Size and uses are not noted, although in 
Jamaica it is reported as attaining a height of from 40 to 60 feet and a diameter of 
2^ feet and as being a most useful hardwood, suitable for all purposes and especially 
for exposed situations. 

98. Exothea paniculata (Juss.) Radlk. { = Hypelata paniculata Camb.). Guacdran, 

Giita. 
Tree from 20 to 30 feet high and from 12 to 18 inches in diameter, occurring in the 
Limestone hills of the western part of the island. Wood used occasionally for cabinet 
work. Wood white, moderately hard , heavy, and strong. 

XXVII. Sabiace^. 

99. Meliosma. 

Two species of this genus occur in Porto Rico: Meliosma obtusifolia Krug. and Urb. 
(Guayi-ote arroyo. Aguacatillo, Cacao bol)0, Cacaillo, Ciralillo, Serillos), and Meliosma 
herbertii Rolfe." (Aguacatillo, Cacao bobo). Trees from 30 to 60 feet high, generally 



TEEES OF PORTO RICO. 83 

distributed throughout the mountainous interior from the Luquillos to Maricao and 
Anasco. Reported also from several other of the West Indies. No local uses for the 
wood are reported. Pores of wood small, isolated, or in groups of from two to eight 
or more. Pith rays small, inconspicuous. 

XXVIII. Rhamnace^. 

100. Colubrina ferruginosa Brongn. Abelluelld, Abejuelo, Achiotillo, Aguacatillo, 

Aguaytaran, Guitaran, Quitaran, Mabi, Raton, Sangmnaria; Snakewood, Iron- 
wood, West Indian groenheart (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet high and sometimes 2 feet in diameter, quite generally dis- 
tributed throughout the island. The wood is used for bxiilding and occasionally for 
piling on account of its resistance to decay in water. 

Wood light yellowish -l)rown, very fine and wavy-grained, taking a very good pol- 
ish, very dural)le in contact with the soil, hard, heavy (about 60 pounds per cubic 
foot), strong, and tough. Pores very small, somewhat more numerous in the early 
wood than in the late wood. Pith rays very narrow and inconspicuous. 

*NoTE. — Another species of little economic importance is Colubrina reclinata 
(I'H^r.) Brongn. (Main, Palo mabi). a tree 15. rarely 30, feet high from the south- 
western part of the island. Wood Similar to the preceding. 

XXIX. Elo^carpace^. 

101. Sloanea berteriana Choisy. Cacao motilla. Cacao otillo. Cacao roseta, Cacaillo, 

Motillo. 

Tree from 25 to 90 feet high and sometimes over 2 feet in diameter, occurring chiefly 
in mountain forests. The wood is used locally for fuel and building purposes. 

Wood white, taking a high polish, very hard, hea^^. strong, tough, and very durable 
in exposed situations. 

XXX. Malvace^. 

*103. Hibiscus tiliaceus L. (=Hibiscus elafus 8w.=Paritium, tiliaceum A. Juss.) 
Emmajaqua, Emajagua, Majagua, Mahagua; Blue or mountain mahoe (Br. W. 
I.); Mahot, Mahot franc (Haiti); Hau (Hawaii). 

Tree from 10 to 30 feet high, growing in moist situations, widely distributed through- 
out the uplands of the island. Common also in the other West Indies and tliroughout 
the remaining tropical world. The bark furnishes a strong and flexible fiber com- 
parable to jute, which is often used in making cordage. Nearly all the ropes in Porto 
Rico are made from this tree. It has also been highly recommended as a raw material 
for paper making. The wood makes handsome furniture, cabinetwork, and flooring, 
and is used largely for shingles and railway sleepers. 

Wood dark bluish green, with dark and light streaks, (about 47 pounds per cubic 
foot), straight and fine-grained, taking a fine polish, hard, lieavy, beautiful when pol- 
ished, strong, tough, and very durable. Pores small or in groui>s of two or three, 
evenly distributed. Pith rays minute, inconspicuous. 

103. Tliespesia populnea (L.) Soland. Emajaguilla, Palo de Jaqueca, Santa ^Maria. 
Tree from 30 to 60 feet high, occurring on the north and west coasts in moist situations. 
It is a common tree on the seashore of most eastern tropical countries and throughout 
the West Indies. The inner bark of the young branches yields a tough fiber which 
is used for cordage. The wood is little used locally, but elsewhere in the Tropics is 
used for cabinetwork, building, and a variety of other purposes. 

Wood dark brown, tinged with red, beautiful, "satiny," fine-grained, resembling 
in general appearance our black walnut {.luglans nigra L.). It is hard, heavy, tough, 
and very durable, especially in water. Pores small, solitary, or in grouj)S of two or 
three, evenly distributed. Pith rays moderately narrow, distinct, clearly visible on 
a polished radial surface, where they appear as light flecks and give a pleasing 
appearance. 



84 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

*104. Thespesia grandijlora P. DC. Maga, Magar, Magas. 

Tree from 30 to 45 feet high and from 1 to 3 feet in diameter, occurring quite gen- 
erally throughout the island. The wood is highly esteemed for furniture, flutes, 
guitar pegs, etc. It is also used largely for shelving and for foundations, house piling, 
etc., because of its durability in the ground. 

Wood rich chocolate-brown, beautiful, fine-grained, taking a good polish, hard, 
heavy (12 pounds per cubic foot), strong, and very durable in contact with the soil. 
Pores solitary or occasionally in groups of two or three, evenly distributed. Pith rays 
inconspicuous. 

XXXI. BOMBACACE^. 

*105. Ceiba pmtandra (L.) Gaertn. {=Eriodcndron anfractuosum DC). Ceiba; 

Silk-cotton, Cotton tree, Kopak tree, Cork wood (Br. W. I.); Fromager 

(Haiti). 
Tree from 60 to 100 feet high and sometimes from 8 to 10 feet in diameter, most com- 
mon in the south and west coast regions, particularly on limestone soils. It is also 
widely distributed throughout the Tropics and usually present in open plains and cul- 
tivated fields. The wood is used for making boats, dugouts, rafts, tubs, and basins. 
Boards and shingles are often made of this wood after treating it by immersing the loga 
in limewater. In West Africa its chief commercial value lies in the "floss" or "ko- 
pak"^ as it is known to commerce, which is a cottony substance surrounding the seeds. 

Wood white or light brown, coarse and straight-grained, very soft, light (about 28 
pounds per cubic foot), rather strong, and not durable in contact with the soil. Pores 
laro'e, evenly distributed throughout the annual rings of growth; the latter are not 
always clearly marked. Pith rays conspicuous. 

106. Quararibea turbinata (Sw.) Poir. Garrocha, Garrocho, Palo de Garrocha. 
A shrub or tree from 25 to 30 feet high, common in all parts of the island. 

*107. Ochroma lagopus Sw. Gtfano, Corcho; Bois Liege (Haiti); Cork wood, Down 
tree (Jamaica); Balsa wood (of commerce). 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet liigh and 1 foot or more in diameter common on the limestone 
soils and along the shore directly behind the mangrove in the north and west coast 
ret^ions and generally throughout the south coast and south slopes of the Central 
Mountains. Particularly common along the roads. It is a tree of the open country, 
like the ceiba. The wood, because of its extreme lightness, is sometimes used as a 
substitute for true cork, for stopping bottles, as floats for fish nets, and for other pur- 
poses where a light wood is required . The bark yields a chestnut-brown fiber suitable 
for rope making, and the seed envelopes yield a soft cotton or down extensively used 
for stuffing pillows and mattresses and to a limited extent for making into garments. 
The bark is also used locally for the tannin it contains, and both bark and roots are 
used medicinally. 

The wood is nearly white or slightly tinged with red, showing practically no dis- 
tinction between heartwood and sap wood. It has a silky texture, loose structure, 
and soft tissue easily compressible under the thumbnail, and is very fibrous and diffi- 
cult to work. It is said to be the lightest of all woods, ha\dng a specific gravity varying 



1 This floss of the ceiba is exported in large quantities from the East Indies and West Africa; the variety 
from Java is regarded as a fiber of great merit, and is used for stufTing pillows and sofas. Itslightness, soft- 
ness, and elasticity render it superior to the best qualities of feathers, wool, or hair. This material has been 
employed also as a buoyant material for packing life belts and for making hats and bonnets, and has even 
been suggested for the manufactiu-e of paper and guncotton. It is too short in st.^ple and too weak to be 
spun into yarn. Unfortunately the silk cotton from the West Indies is accounted of little value at present, 
but it only remains for some one to start its collection here and ship it to American markets. It has been 
estimated that the average yield of silk cotton from a single tree in the West Indies and Mexico is approxi- 
mately 100 pounds. Many thousands of bales of silk cotton might be collected annually in the West Indies 
and turned to economic use. In 1907 alittle over 20,000,000 poiuids of silk cotton was exported from Java 
and Sumatra, and of this quantity about 3,000,000 pounds were consumed in the United States for a great 
variety of purposes. 



TREES OF PORTO RICO. 85 

from 0.120 (or about 7^ pounds per cubic foot) to 0.240. Pith rays quite conspicuous 
on a transverse section; they are also plainly visible on the radial surface and give 
fissure to the wood, resembling the character of beech or sycamore, only they are 
more numerous. 

*108. Theobroma cacao L. Cacao. 

A cultivated and seminaturalized tree from 12 to 30 feet high occurring locally on 
the north and west sides of the island. It is native to tropical America and is grown 
commercially in a number of the West Indies. It is said to grow best under thor- 
oughly tropical conditions of moisture and warmth at or near sea level (below 500 feet). 
It is commonly grown under the shade of some one of the leguminous trees, usually 
Eryihrina micropteryx (or E. umbosa). 

XXXII. Sterculiace^. 

*109. GuazuTua ulmifolia Lam. (=Guazuma guazuma Cock). Gudcima, Gudcima del 
norte; West Indian elm, Guazuma plum (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet high and from 15 to 18 inches in diameter, very common 
throughout the island, the Antilles generally, and on the continent. Wood used for 
oars, posts, staves, fuel, and charcoal. 

Wood light grayish-brown, fine and straight-grained, rather soft, light (35 pounds 
per cubic foot), moderately weak but tough. Pores small, solitary or in groups of two 
or three, rarely more, evenly distributed. Pith rays distinct, but rather inconspic- 
uous, plainly visible on a smooth radially cut surface. 

110. Guazuma tomentosa H. B. K. Guacima, Guacima del sur; Bastard cedar (Br. 

W. I.); Orme d'Amerique (Fr. W. I.). 

Tree from 45 to 60 feet high and from 1 foot to 2 feet in diameter, very common along 
the southern coast of the island and distributed quite generally throughout tropical 
America. In Jamaica the wood is said to be used largely f jr staves of sugar hogsheads, 
and the best of the young shoots is used extensively for cordage. 

Wood light or grayish-brown, rather fine and straight-grained, fissile, taking a 
fairly good polish, moderately soft, light, rather tough and durable in exposed situa- 
tions. Pores small, solitary or in radial rows of from two to three. Pith rays narrow 
and inconspicuous. 

XXXIIl. TERNSTROEMIACEiE. 

111. Represented in Porto Rico by three genera and five tree species, none of wliich 

are commercially important. 

These are Temstroemia peduncularis P. DC, from 20 to 30 feet high; Ternstroemia 
heptascpala Krug et Urb., from 15 to 25 feet high; Ternstroemia luquillensis Krug et 
Urb. (Palo Colorado), from 30 to 60 feet high; Cleyera albopunctata (Griseb.) Ivjug et 
Urb. (Teta prieta), from 25 to 30 feet high; and Haemocharis portoricensis Ki'ug et Urb. 
(Maricao, Nino de cota), from 15 to 60 feet high; all common in the Sierra de Luquillo, 
the second last extending through the Cordillera Central to Maricao. 

XXXIV. GUTTIPER^. 

*112. Mammea americana L. Mamey, Mammea; Mammee apple (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet high and from 18 to 24 inches in diameter, common in all 
parts of the island. Its fruit ig very highly regarded by the natives and it is very gen- 
erally planted on this account here and elsewhere throughout the American Tropics. 
The tree also produces a medicinal gum. The wood is well adapted for house build- 
ing, posts, and piles. 

Wood reddish brown, beautiful, wavy, and fine-grained, taking a good polish, hard, 
heavy (61 pounds per cubic foot), resinous, and very durable in damp situations. 
Pores small, solitary, or occasionally in pairs, evenly distributed. Pith rays narrow, 
very inconspicuous. 



86 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

*113. Calophyllum calabaJacq. Marias, Palo de Maria; Santa Maria (Jamaica). 

Tree from 45 to 60 feet high and from 2 to 3 feet in diameter (in Jamaica said to 
attain a height of 150 feet and a diameter of 5 feet and over), rather common in the 
humid north, east, and northwest sections and occasionally along the banks of the 
streams in the semiarid southcoast region. Common also throughout the West Indies. 
The wood is said to be greatly prized locally for carpentry work, and for canoes when 
the trunk is large enough. Elsewhere it has a variety of uses, such as construction 
work, shipbuilding and heavy machine work, posts, furniture, fellies of wheels, and 
shingles. Seeds yield an oil said to be used in lamps. Tree is suitable for ornamental 
planting. 

Wood white or reddish in color, hard and durable. Reported to Aveigh about 46 
pounds per cubic foot. 

*114. Clusia rosea Jacq. Cupey, Palo de Cupey ; Balsam Fig; Balsam tree (Br. W. I.). 
Tree from 20 to 60 feet high and from 18 to 24 inches in diameter; commonly starts 
as a parasite on the branches of other trees, although it may start directly on the 
ground. It is quite generally distributed on the island and throughout the West 
Indies. The wood is used largely for posts and fuel. 

Wood reddish-brown with brown and white streaks, very cross and fine grained, 
hard, heavy (55 pounds per cubic foot), and durable. Pores small, soUtary or in 
pairs, evenly distributed. Pith rays moderately narrow, distinct, but not conspic- 
uous. 

Note. — Other incidental and unimportant trees in this and a closely related 
genus are Clusia krugiana Urb. (Cupey, Capei, Cupeillo), occurring in the Lu- 
quillo region, and Rheedia ■portoricensis Urb. (=Clusia acuminata Spreng= Todo- 
mita elliptica C. & C.) (Guayabacoa, SebucAn), growing along the soacoasts, 
shrubs or trees from 10 to 60 feet high, with wood resembling that of Clusia rosea. 

XXXV. BiXACE^. 

115. Bixa orellana L. Achiote, Achote, Bixa, Biji, Arnatta, Anatto. 

Tree from 20 to 30 feet high and about a foot in diameter, occurring in the interior. 
It is planted in many parts of the island. The wood is little used. A coloring matter 
extracted from the arillus of the seed is much used locally for coloring rice, soup, etc. ; 
and as the "anatto" of commerce is widely used for coloring cheese, chocolates, and 
butter, also by varnish makers for imparting a rich orange tinge to some grades of their 
products. 

Wood nearly white in its natural state, but when polished turns slightly yellowish 
or reddish. On a radial surface it has narrow lines of slightly darker color, which 
correspond with the annual rings of growth clearly visible in transverse sections. 
It is very soft, light (about 25 pounds per cubic foot), weak, brittle, and not durable 
in contact with the soil. Pores rather conspicuous in the early wood, rendering it 
somewhat coarse and open-grained. 

XXXVI. WlNTERANACE^. 

116. Represented by two genera, each with one tree species, neither one of which is of 

importance. 

Winterana canella L. (Barbasco, Wild cinnamon), a tree from 25 to 45 feet high, 
of rather general distribution along the coast and throughout the West Indies, with a 
pale, orange-colored, aromatic bark which is used as a*touic; and Pleodendron macran- 
thujn (Baill.) v. Tiegh. ( = Cinnamodendron viacranthum Baill.) (Chupa gallo, Chupa- 
callo), a tree from 20 to 30 feet high, from the Sierra de Luquillo, with a white, hard, 
and heavy wood. 

XXXVII. Flacourtiace^. 

117. Homalium racemosum Jacq. Tostado, Caracolillo, Cerezo. 

Tree from 20 to 60 feet high, quite generally distributed throughout the island. 
The wood is very useful for building and carpentry. 



TREES OF PORTO RICO. 87 

Wood light-colored, fine-grained, moderately hard, heavy, and strong. Pores 
minute, numerous, isolated or in groiips of two or three, evenly distributed. Pith 
rays numerous, minute, inconspicuous. 

118. Xylosma. 

Two species very similar as to their wood and uses and neither of any great'impor- 
tance are Xylosma schwaneckcanum Krug. & Urb. {=Myroxylon schwa necheanum 
Krug. & Urb.) (Palo de candela, Palo Colorado), and Xylosma buxifolium A. Gray 
{ — Myroxylon buxifolium Kriig. & Urb.) (Roseta), trees from 15 to 35 feet high and 1 
foot in diameter, the former found chiefly in the Luquillo region and the latter through- 
out the southwestern part of the island and the West Indies generally. The wood has 
no uses except for fuel and charcoal. 

Wood light brown, turning darker with age, straight and fine-grained, hard, heavy, 
strong, tough, and very durable in contact with the soil. Pores numerous, very small, 
arranged singly or in short radial rows. Pith rays very narrow and inconspicuous. 

119. Casearia. 

Five species attain tree size, namely, Casearia guianensis (Aubl.) Urb. (Cafeillo, 
Cafetillo, Palo bianco), from 15 to 30 feet high; Casearia bicolor Urb. (Talantr6n, 
Cotorrerillo?),45 feet high; Casearia decandra Jacq. (Garacolillo, Cereza, Ootorrerillo, 
Gia mansa, Palo bianco), from 18 to 25 feet; Casearia arborea (L. CI. Rich.) Urb. (Gia 
verde, Rabojimco, Rabo ratdn), from 15 to 45 feet high; and Casearia sylvestris Sw. 
(Cafeillo cimarron, Laurel espada, Sarna de perro), from 25 to 60 feet high. 

Tliese trees are most common in the calcareous foothills and along the coast in all 
parts of the island, except the last two, which are reported well distributed through- 
out the interior moim tains from the Sierra de Luquillo to Maricao and Mayaguez. 
They are also widely distributed throughout the West Indies, except C. bicolor, which 
is reported only from Porto Rico (Utuado). 

Wood of C. guianensis reported to be yellow, hard, and heavy (about G5 pounds per 
cubic foot), and to be used for lumber, for building native huts, for fences, and for 
similar uses. 

XXXVIII. Cactace^. 

120. Represented in Porto Rico by four genera (one exotic) and eight species (two 

exotic). 

These have an erect form and attain tree proportions, or at least are designated 
"Pitajaya" (meaning tree-cactus) by the natives, although they do not all have a 
true woody structure and are consequently not real trees, namely, Cerciis quadrico- 
status Bello (Pitajaya, Sebucan"), from 6 to 30 feet high; Cereus triangularis (L.) Haw. 
(Pitajaya); Cereus trigonus Haw. ( = C. triangularis Stahl. C. & C.) (Pitajaya), from 3 
to 9 feet high; Cereus peruvianus (L.) Mill, a continental species from 15" to 25 feet 
high, occasionally cultivated in gardens; Pilocereus royeni (L.) Riimpl. { = Cereus 
swartzii Stahl. C. & C.) (Sebucan), 9 feet high; Opuntia catacantha Lk. et Otto, 15 feet 
high; Opuntia guanicana K. Schum. (Tuna), from 12 to 15 feet high; and Nopalea 
coccinellifera (L.) Salm-Dyck (Tuna de Espana, Tuna mansa), a tropical American 
and West Indian species 12 feet high, occasionally cultivated in gardens. 

Their natural distribution is limited largely to the semiarid south coast region, 
including the small adjacent islands, as Culebra, etc., though they occasionally are 
found on the limestone hills along the north side of the island. All, except C. quad- 
ricostatus and Opuntia guanicana, which are strictly local in occurrence, are more or 
less common to the other islands of the West Indies and tropical America. 

XXXIX. Thymel^ace^. 

121. Daphnopsis. 

Two species attain tree size in Porto Rico: Daphnopsis caribaea Griseb. (Emajagua 
de sierra), from 15 to 45 feet high, found chiefly in the Sierra de Cayey and Cordillera 
Central and widely distributed throughout the West Indies; and Daphnopsis philip- 
iana Krug et Urb. (Cieneguillo, Emajagua brava, Emajagua de sierra, Majagua 
quemadora), from 8 to 25 feet high, occuning throughout the mountains from the Sierra 
de Luquillo to the Cordillera Central. 



88 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTUBE. 

XL. RHIZOPUORACEiE. 

*123. Rhizophora mangle L. Mangle, Mangle Colorado, Mangle sapatero. Red man- 
grove (Jamaica). 

Tree from 30 to 50 feet high and from 1 foot to 3 feet through, growing in tidewater 
swamps. Wood used for making hogsheads and for knees and ribs of boats and other 
small craft, also for charcoal and fuel. The logs are used for posts and piling and 
occasionally cut into boards for flooring and interior finish. 

Wood light red or reddish brown with darker, often nearly black, streaks, fine and 
cross grained, taking a good polish, very hard and heavy (about 70 pounds per cubic 
foot), strong and durable. Pores very small, numerous, isolated or in groups of two 
to five or more, evenly distributed. Pith rays visible to the unaided eye on a smooth 
transverse surface of the wood. 

Note. — Cassipourea, a closelj^ allied genera, is represented by a single species, 
Cassipourea alba Griseb. (Multa, Palo bianco de la costa, Palo de gongoli, Palo 
dehueso, Palo de oreja, Palo de toro), a shrub or small tree of from 15 to 30 feet 
high, with a rather general distribution in various parts of the central mountain 
area, as well as on the limestone foothills. 

XLI. COMBRETACE^. 

*123. Terminalia catappa L. Almendra, Almendr6n; Indian almond (Br. W. T.). 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet liigh and about 2 feet in diameter. This is a species intro- 
duced from the East Indies, but naturalized and now a very common tree through- 
out the West Indies, especially in the lowlands. The wood is similar to mahogany 
and is used for furniture and house building. 

Wood is brownish, coarse and straight grained, taking a beautiful polish, moderately 
hard and heavy (about 40 pounds per cubic foot), brittle and not strong. Pores of 
moderate size, evenly distributed, and connected by niunerous tangential lines of 
soft tissue. Pith rays narrow and inconspicuous. 

*124. Buchenavia capitata (Vahl.) Eichl. Granadillo; Yellow sanders (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 40 to 80 feet high and from 2 to 3 feet in diameter. This is a very common 
tree tliroughout the island. The wood is used for furniture and fancy carpentry 
work. 

Wood fine and often wavy grained, satiny, taking a beautiful polish, moderately 
hard, heavy, strong, and tough. This wood has a very wavy grain. Pores moderately 
large, evenly distributed, solitary or sometimes in small groups. Pith rays narrow 
and inconspicuous. 

*Vi5. Conocarpus erecta L. Mangle, Mangle bot<5n, Mangle botoncillo, Mangle 
Colorado. 

A shrub or small tree from 6 to 25 feet high, growing in the tidewater swamps. Wood 
used for making charcoal and for fuel. 

*126. Bucida buceras L. Ucar, Ucar bianco, Tlucar bianco, Bucaro; Wild olive wood 
of Jamaica; Bois grisgris (Haiti). 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet high and about a foot in diameter. It is found cliiefly near 
the coast. The wood is used for shelves in houses and for mallets, wooden cogs, and 
shingles. It was formerly used for knees in boat buihling. 

Wood white or ashy brown, fine and cross grained, remotely resembling the wood of 
American elm. It is hard, heavy, strong, tough, and very durable in water. Pores 
very small, numerous, occurring solitary, and evenly distributed. Pith rays narrow 
but distinct. 

137. Laguncularia racemosa (L.) Gaertn. Mangle bianco, Mangle bobo; WMte man- 
grove (Jamaica). 

Tree from 20 to 30 feet high, growing in the tidewater swamps. Wood used for 
making charcoal. 



TREES OF PORTO RICO. 89 

XLII. Myrtace^. 

*128. Psidium guajava L. Guayava, Guayaba, Guayava pera; Guava (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 15 to 25 feet ia height and from 6 to 8 inches in diameter. It is culti- 
vated throughout the ishxnd and in the Tropics generally and is well known on account 
of its fruit. The wood is used for making agricultural implements for structures 
where strength and elasticity ai'e required, and for posts, fuel, and charcoal. 

Wood brownish gray, tinged with red, comj^act, fine and straight grained, with a 
mottled and often very beautiful appearance. It is hard, heavy (about 45 pounds 
per cubic foot), strong, and tough. Pores very small, not numerous, and distributed 
in rather wide inconspicuous zones, visible only under the hand lens. Pith rays very 
inconspicuous. 

*139. Amomis caryophyllata (Jacq.) Krug et Urb. Auzu, Ausu, Guayavita, Limon- 
cillo, Malagueta, Pimienta malagueta; Bayberry tree, Bay rum tree, Wild 
cinnamon (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 20 to 45 feet high and about 2 feet in diameter, occurring in mountainous 
parts of the island and throughout the West Indies. The wood is suitable for car- 
pentry, cabinetwork, posts, sills, cogs, rollers, and other millwork, and was formerly 
exported. The leaves have the taste and odor of lemon, and an essential oil of bay 
or bay oil is obtained by distillation. 

Wood dark, mottled, compact, fine and occasionally cross grained, takinga beautiful 
polish. It is very hard, heavy (about GO pounds per cubic foot), strong, tough, and 
very durable. Pores very small, numerous, evenly distributed throughout the wood. 
Pith rays very narrow and inconspicuous. 

*NoTE. — A variety of this species is also recognized, Amomis caryophyllata var. 
grisea (Kiaersk.) Krug et Urb. (Limoncillo, Malagueta, Pimienta), a tree some- 
times 50 feet high in mountainous regions, the wood of which is very similar to 
that of the preceding. 

130. Myrcia. 

The genus is represented in Porto Rico by the following four species, wMch attain 
tree size: Myrcia leptoclada P. DC. (Guayabac6n, Guayavacdn); Myrcia splendcns 
(Sw.) P. DC. (Rama menuda, Hoja menuda); Myrciaf pagani Krug et Urb. (Ausu); 
and Myrcia defiexa (Poir.) P. DC. (Cieneguillo, Guayavacon). 

Trees from 15 to 60 feet high, found in the mountainous regions of the island. 
The wood is used very little except for fuel and chaicoal. Wood reddish brown, 
hard, heavy, and strong. 

131. Calyptranthes sintenisii Kiaersk. Hoja menuda, Limoncillo, Limoncillo de 

monte. 

Tree from 15 to 25 feet high and from 6 to 10 inches in diameter, occumng in the 
Luquillo region. The wood is used in carpentry and for fuel and charcoal. 

Wood fine and straight grained, hard, heavy, strong, and flexible. Pores small and 
nmneroua. Pith rays inconspicuous. 

133. Eugenia aeruginea P. DC. Guasavera, Guayabacon. 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet high and from 1 foot to 2 feet in diameter, rather widely 
distributed on the island. 

Wood light brown or chestnut colored, fine and straight gi-ained, beautiful when 
polished, hard, heavy, strong, and flexible. Pores A'ery small and arranged singly or 
in radial rows of from two to three between the very narrow inconspicuous pith rays. 

Note. — Other species of this i^enus very similar to the above but of slight 
importance are Eugenia stahlii (Kiaersk.) Krug et Urb. (Guayabota, Limoncillo), 
tree from 15 to 60 feet high and from 1 to 2 feet in diameter; Eugenia sintenisii 
(Kiaersk.) Ki'Ug et Urb., from 45 to 60 feet high; and Eugenia floribunda West 
(Mur_ta)_ 30 feet high. All are common throughout the island and their woods 
are similar to the preceding. 



90 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

*133. Eugenia jambos L. { = Jambosa janibos Millsp.). Poma rosa; Rose apple (Br. 
W. I.). 

Tree from 20 to 50 feet high and from 1 to 2 feet in diameter, introduced from the 
East Indies and now largely naturalized throughout the island. The wood is used 
for barrel hoops, poles, fuel, and charcoal. It also furnislies material from which 
large baskets are made. 

Wood grajash brown, fine and straight grained, hard, lieavy, strong, and tough. 
Pores small and arranged in irregular tangential lines. Pith rays very narrow and 
scarcely visible under the hand lens. 

XLIII. Melastomatace^. 

134. Miconia tetrandra (Sw.) D. Don. Camasey. 

Tree from 30 to 50 feet high and about a foot in diameter, common in the moun- 
tains of Porto Rico and found on all the islands of the West Indies. The wood is used 
for poles, fuel, and charcoal. 

Wood light brown, fine and straight grained, hard, moderately heavy, strong, 
flexible, and diu-able in the soil. Pores small, numerous, and evenly distributed. 
Pith rays very narrow and inconspicuous. 

Note 1. — Three other species in this genus similar in size, distribution, and 
uses are Miconia guianensis (Aubl.) Cogn. (Camasey, Camasey bianco, Camasey 
de Costilla); Miconia impetiolaris (Sw.) D. Don (Camasey, Camasey de costilla) 
and Miconia pmsina (Sw.) P. DC. (Camasey). 

Note 2. — Three other genera and six species in this family attain tree size, 
though they are of but slight local or general importance, namely, Calycogonium 
squamulosum Cogn. (Granadilla cimarrona), from 15 to 30 feet high, from the 
Sierra de Luquillo; Calycogonium bijlorum Cogn., from 25 to 30 feet high, from 
near Barranquitas; Heterotrichum cymosum (Wendl.) Urb. (Camasey Colorado, 
Camasey de paloma, Terciopelo), from 25 to 30 feet high, from various parts of 
the island; Henriettella macfadyenii (Triana), 60 feet liigh, from Sierra de Luquillo 
and Cordillera Central, found also in Jamaica*; Henriettella meinbrani/olia Cogn., 
30 feet high, from Lares; and Henriettella fascictilaris (Sw.) Ch. Wright (Camasey 
de oro, Camasey de paloma), from 25 to 30 feet high, from various places on the 
island, also throughout the Greater Antilles. 

XLIV. Araliace^. 

135. Gilibertiaarborea (L.) F,. March {=AraliaarboreaL.). Muneca, Palo cachumba, 

Pana, Vibona. 

Tree from 30 to 60 [feet high, quite common throughout the island, and found in all 
parts of the West Indies. The wood resembles boxwood (Buxus sempervirens L.) and 
should make a suitable substitute. 

Wood light or pale yellow, very fine grained, taking a good polish, very hard, heavy, 
strong, and tough. Pores very small, numerous, scarcely visible under the hand lens, 
and evenly distributed. Pith rays very narrow and inconspicuous. 

Note. — Another species in every way similar to the above is Gilibertia lauri- 
folia E. March (Palo cachumba, Palo de gangulin, Palo de vaca, Vibona). 

*136. Didymopanax morototoni (Aubl.) Dene et PI. Yagrume macho, Yagrume; 
Grayiune, Grayume macho, Grayumo, Pana cimarrona, Llagrume, Llagrume- 
macho. 

Tree from 40 to 60 feet high and about a foot in diameter, very common in the 
mountains and distributed quite generally tliroughout tropical America. The wood 
is used for boards and beams in house building, and has been suggested as a good 
material for making matches. 

Wood light olive brown, fine and straight grained, moderately hard, heavy, brittle, 
and not strong. Pores small, very numerous, and more or less evenly distributed 
throughout the annual rings of gi'owth, which can be readily distinguished by means 
of the hand lens. Pith rays very conspicuous. 



TREES OF PORTO RICO. 91 

XLV. Myrsinace^. 

137. Ardisia glaucijlora XJrh . Mameyuelo. 

Tree from 15 to 25 feet high, occurring in the Luquillo region. The wood is used 

for fiuTiiture. 

Wood white, beautifully marked with fine lines, fine-grained, taking a good polish, 
hard, and heavy. Pores minute, isolated or in groups of two or tliree, evenly dis- 
tributed. Pith rays numerous, broad, very conspicuous. 

Note. — Another species, Ardisia guadalupensis Duchass. (Badula, Mameyuelo), 
attains a somewhat larger size and wider distribution on the island. Its wood is 
similarly used and has the same structural characteristics as the above but is a 
light reddish brown instead of white. 

XLVI. Sapotace^. 

*138. Achras zapota L. Sapodilla, Nispero^; Naceberry, Bullet tree (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 30 to 45 feet high and about a foot in diameter. It is cultivated and 
wild on the island, having been originally introduced from Venezuela, and widely 
planted for the sake of its fruit. It is said to yield a gum similar to "gum chicle," 
principally obtained from Mivmsops globosa and Sapota zapotilla. The wood is 
adapted for inside work, cabinetmaking, and furniture. 

"Wood light red with darker stripes, fine and straight grained, susceptible of a high 
polish, difficult to work on account ot its extreme hardness, heavy (about 74 pounds 
per cubic foot), strong, tough, and very durable in contact with the soil. Pores 
very small, numerous, and arranged in more or less distinct radial rows between the 
narrow pith rays. 

Note. — Closely related to the above is Calocarpum mammosum (L.) Pierre 
(Mamey Sapote; Bartaballi, [Br. Guiana]), a tree irom 30 to 40 feet high and 
of limited occurrence on the island. 

139. Lucumamultifiora k. DC. Acana, Hacana, Jacana; Contrevent (Br. W. I.). 
Tree from 40 to 90 feet high and irom 2 to 3 feet in diameter, found quite gener- 
ally on the island and throughout tropical America. It yields very excellent timber 
which is used for mill rollers, frames, furniture, and house building. 

Wood light colored, fine and straight grained, beautiful when polished, hard, 
very heavy, strong, tough, and dm-able. Pores small and arranged in radial rows. 
Pith rays narrow and indistinct. 

140. Micropholis. 

There are three tree species in this genus, Micropholis gardnifoUa Pierre (Caimi- 
tillo), from 45 to 60 feet high; Micropholis curvata (Pierre) Urb. (Leche prieto), from 30 
to 60 feet high; and Micropholis chrysophylloides Pierre (Caimitillo, Leche prieto),' 
from 60 to 75 feet high, the former in the Sierra de Luquillo chiefly and the others in 
the Sierra de Cayey and Cordillera Central. The wood, particularly of the last named, 
is very hard and heavy, similar to that of Achras Zapota and is regarded locally as a 
first-class wood. 

*141. Sideroxylon foetidissimum Jacq. (=S. mastichodendron Jacq.). Ausubo,^ 
Tortuga, Tortugo amarillo, Tortugo prieto; Caguani (Cuba); Mastic (Fla.). 

Tree from 30 to more than 50 feet high and from 2 to 3 feet in diameter, occurring 
on the coast. It is common in southern Florida and throughout tropical America 

1 This should not be confused with the true medlar, Mespilus gcrmanica L., to which the Spanish "nis. 
pero" most commonly applies, nor with the Japanese medlar orloquat {Eriobotryajaponica Lindl.), neither 
of which are known to the Porto Rican public (C. & C). 

2 Two species, Sideroxylon fattdissimum and Mimusops nitida are both known as "ausubo." Of the 
former Gifford and Barrett say, that it is "probably the most valuable wood per cubic foot in Porto Rico." 
although they admit that "possibly two species are included imder this name," which is more likely. 
According to Urban, Sideroxylon fatidissimum is not reported from the Sierra de Luquillo or other parts 
of the interior, while Mimusops nitida is. Acocrding to Femow and Taylor, however, this Sideroxylon is 
widely distributed in the Sierra Maestra (Cuba). 



92 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

and the West ladies, rankin;» as a very valual)le timber. The wood is "used locally 
for all purposes requiring great strength and durability, such as beams and rafters, 
also for all parts of wheels, axles and other parts of native bull carts, for ox yokes 
and other native uses, and somewhat for furniture. 

Wood maroon-red, very fine and straight grained, susceptible of a good polish, 
easily worked (considering its hardness, and very durable in the Tropics; in the 
temperate climate it is less durable. Wood hard, heavy (about 65 pounds per cubic 
foot), strong, and tough. Moderately conspicuous ducts in short detached long and 
short chains (single lines of cells) evenly diffused; chains usually between two 
medullary rays. Medullary rays very numerous, minute, indistinct. Wood fibers 
slightly interlaced and appearing straight-grained. Resembles somewhat a fine- 
grained teak. (Hill and Sudworth.) 

Note. — Another species of very limited distribution is Sideroxylon portoricense 
Urb. (Tal)loncillo), a tree from 75 to 90 feet high, reported only from the vicinity 
of Utuado and Lares. Wood similar to that of Sideroxylon /(rtidissimum, and 
probably similarly used. 

*143. Dipholis salidfolia (L.) A. DC. Almendron, Tabloncillo. 

Tree fi'om 30 to 40 feet high and from 12 to 18 inches in diameter, occurring in dry 
Umestone soils near the coast. It is common in southern Florida and throughout 
the West Indies. The wood is used locally principally for fuel and charcoal. 

Wood dark brown-red, fine and straight grained, taking a beautiful polish, hard, 
heavy (about 55 pounds per cubic foot), strong, and tough. 

Note. — Another rather incidental species is Dipholis sintenisiana Pierre 
(Espejuelo), a tree from 60 to 70 feet high, from the northwestern part of the 
island, having a wood similar to that of D. salidfolia. 

*143. Chn/sophyllum cainito L. Cainito, Caimito, Caimito morado; Star apple (Br. 
W. I.)'. 

Tree from 45 to 60 feet high and from 12 to 18 inches in diameter. It is a cultivated 
and wild tree and found in most parts of the island. The wood is suited to a variety 
of uses and particularly in exposed situations. 

Wood red or reddish-brown, very fine and curly grained, taking an excellent poKsh, 
hard, hea\n,', strong, tough, and very durable in contact with the soil. Pores very 
small and arranged in short radial rows between the rather inconspicuous pith rays. 

*144. Chrysophyllum oliviforme L. Teta de burra, Lechesillo. 

Tree from 30 to 40 feet high and about a foot in diameter from the southwestern 
part of the island. It is distributed throughout the West Indies and southern Florida, 
but is nowhere common. 

Wood light brown tinged with red, fine and straight grained, taking a good polish 
hard, heavy (about 58 pounds per cubic foot), very strong, and tough. Pores small 
and arranged in short radial rows, which are easily seen on a smooth transverse surface 
under a hand lens. 

Note . — Other species of this genus are Chn/sophyllum bicolor Poir. (Caimitillo, 
Lechesillo), from 30 to 50 feet high, occurring very locally and in Porto Rico 
only; Chrysophyllum argenteum Jacq. (Caimito verde, Lechesillo), from 25 to 
60 feet high, occurring rather widely distributed throughout the island and 
others of the West Indies, and Chrysophyllum paudflorum Lam. (Cairnito de 
perro), from 40 to 60 feet high, reported only from the southern part of the island. 
Wood of each is similar to that of the above. 

145. Mimusops. 

Two species of this genus occur in Porto Rico, Mimusops nitida (Sess(5 et Moo.) 
Urb. (Acana, Ausubo '), a tree from 20 to 50 feet or more high, occurring in nioun- 
tainous regions; and Mimusops duplicala (Sesse et Moc.) Urb. (= M. globosa Griseb.) 
(Mameyuelo, Sapote, Sapote de costa, Zipote, Balata), from 40 to 60 feet high, occur- 
ring along the north coast. Both are local species. 

' See footnote under Sideroxylon fcetidissimum. 



TKEES OF PORTO RICO. » 93 

Wood of these two species is dark brown, fine and straight grained, taking a splendid 
polish, hard, heavy (about GO pounds per cubic foot), strong, tough, and very durable 
in contact with soil and water. Pores very small, and arranged in more or less oblique 
radial rows which are visible under the hand lens. 

XLVII. Ebenace^. 

146. Maba sintenisiiKrug. etJJrh. Guayabota-nispero, Tabeiba. 

Tree from 25 to 30 feet high, of uncommon occurrence, reported from only two 
localities on the island. 

Wood very light brown, very fine and straight grained, taking a very good polish, 
very hard, heavy, strong, tough, and durable. Pores very minute, numerous, and 
arranged in indistinct radial rows. Very fine tangential lines of soft tissue are visible 
under a strong hand lens. 

*14:7. Diospyros ebenaster Retz. Guayabota; Zapote negro 6 prieto (Mexico). 

Tree about 30 feet high, of infrequent occurrence in the mountains. It is native 
of the West Indies, Mexico, and Malay Islands. It has a black bark and heartwood. 
This tree attains much larger size in Mexico than it does in Porto Rico, where it is 
used only for fuel and charcoal. 

XLVIII. Symplocace^. 

148. Symplocos. 

Genus represented in Porto Rico by five tree species, namely, Symplocos lanata 
Krug et Urb. (Palo de nispero cimarron), from 24 to 30 feet high, from Adjuntas and 
Peiiuelas; Symplocos micrantha Krug et Urb. (Palo de cabra), from 20 to 50 feet 
high, from the Sierra de Luquillo and Cordillera Central; Symplocos martinicensis 
Jacq. (Aceituna, Aceituna blanca, Aceituna cimarrona), from 10 to 30 feet lugh, 
from Bayamon and Afiasco; Symplocos polyantha Ki-ug et Urb. (Palo de cabra), from 
the Sierra de Luquillo; and Symplocos latifolia Krug et Urb. (Aceituna), from 25 
to 45 feet high, from Sierra de Cayey and Cordillera Central. Except for the third 
of these, which occurs generally throughout the West Indies, all are local species. 
Their woods, wliich are alike, are apparently very little used. 

The wood of S. martinicensis is white, hard, moderately heavy, and strong. Pores 
small, numerous, isolated or in groups of two to four, evenly distributed. Pith rays 
narrow, inconspicuous. 

XLIX. Styracace^. 

149. Styrax portoricensis Krug and Urb. 

Tree apparently little known even locally. Reported as being from 30 to 60 feet 
high and occurring only in the mountain forests of the eastern part of the island. 

L. Oleace.e. 

150. Linodera doming ensis (Lam.) Knobl. (=Mayepea domingensis Klrugand Urb.). 

Hueso bianco, Palo'de hueso, Huesillo, Palo bianco. 

Tree frorn 30 to 45 feet high, quite generally distributed throughout the northern 
part of the island. Common also to the other islands of the Greater Antilles. 

Wood light colored, moderately fine grained, hard, and moderately heavy. Pores 
small, isolated or in groups of from two or three, evenly distributed. Pith "rays nar- 
row, inconspicuous. 

LI. Apocynace^. 

151. Plumiera alba L. Aleli, Aleli cimarron, Tabeiba; Frangipanic blanc, Bois de 

lait (Fr. W. I.). 

Tree from 20 to 30 feet high and from 6 to 10 inches in diameter, occurring along the 
coast, very common throughout tropical America. The wood is used for carpentry 
work, and as a substitute for true sandalwood {Santalum album, L.). 

Wood yellowish-white or light grayish-yellow, marked with niunerous irregular 
undulating lines, gi\'ing the wood a very pleasing appearance. It is very compact 
and fine grained, taking a very good polish, hard, heavy, strong, and tough. 



94 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

152. Rauwolfia nitida Jacq. Cachimbo, Palo amargo, Palo de mufieco. 

Tree from 30 to GO feet high, common to the sandy coast soils. Common also to 
other of the West Indies. 

LII. BORRAGINACE^. 

153. Cordia alliodora (R. & P.) Cham. ( = C. gerascanthus Jacq. and C geruscanthoidea 

C. & C.) Capd, Capd prieta; Prince wood, Spanish elm (Jamaica). 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet high and from 12 to 18 inches in diameter, found commonly 
in the mountainous interior. Although now rather scarce, this wood is very liighly 
prized locally because of a variety of good qualities. In Jamaica it is considered 
one of their best woods. It is used for furniture, flooring, doors, Venetian blinds, 
beds, interior finish, carriage building, posts, and cooperage. 

Wood rich light brown with dark streaks, fine grained, taking a good polish, mod- 
erately hard and heavy (about 36 pounds per cubic foot), strong and durable. Pores 
small, numerous, isolated or in groups of from two or three, evenly distributed. 
Annual rings of growth visible on a smooth transverse surface. Pith rays narrow but 
conspicuous, visible to the unaided eye on a smooth transverse surface. 

Note. — Other species of this genus are Cordia sebestena L. (Vomitel Colorado, 
San Bartolomc; Aloe wood [Br. W. I.]; Geiger tree [Florida Keys]), from 20 to 35 
feet high, occurring along the eastern, southern, and western coasts. It is often 
planted as an ornamental tree in tropical gardens. Wood brown, fine grained, 
moderately hard, and heavy. Cordia collococca L. (Cereza cimarrona, Palo de 
muiieca; Clammy cherry [Jamaica]), from 1.5 to 30 feet high, occurring in the south- 
western part of the island near the coast. Used for barrel staves in Jamaica, 
having a wood which is soft, brittle, and not durable. Cordia nitida Vahl. (Cere- 
zas, Cereza cimarrona, Muneca), from 15 to 60 feet high, occurring in the southern 
part of the island. Cordia sulcata DC. (Moral, Moral de paz ), from 30 to 60 feet 
high, found in the interior mountain forests. Wood little used. *Cordia borin- 
quensis Urb. (Muneca, Palo de muneca, Capa cimarron), from 20 to 60 feet high, 
found in interior mountain forests, having wood light yellow, fine grained, taking 
a good polish, moderately heavy, and hard. 

LIII. Verbenace^. 

154. Citharexylum fruticosum L. ( = Citharexyhini quadrangulare Griseb.). Pendola; 

Pendula, Pendula Colorado, Palo de guitarra, Balsamo, Higuerillo. 

Tree from 20 to 40 feet high and from 12 to 20 inches in diameter, occurring near the 
eastern and southern coasts. It is, used for furniture and in house building. The 
natives make their guitars from it. 

Wood Ught red, moderately fine-grained, fairly hard, heavy (about 46 pounds per 
cubic foot), and strong. 

Note. — Incidental species in this and a closely allied genera are Citharcx;/bim 
caudatum L. (Higuerillo), from 15 to 60 feet high, from the Sierra de Luquillo 
and Cordillera Central, also occurs in the other of the Greater Antilles, the Baha- 
mas, and Mexico; and Callicarpa ampla Schauer (Capd rosa, Pendola cimarron), 
from 25 to 50 feet high, occmring only in mountainous regions of Porto Rico. 

*155. Petitia domingensis Jacq. Capa, Capd blanca, Capa sabanero, Capd de sabdna, 
Capa amarillo, Palode capade sabdna; Fiddle wood (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 20 to 50 feet high and 2 feet or more in diameter, occurring chiefly in the 
interior. 'Common also to the other islands of the Greater Antilles. The wood is used 
locally for making rollers in coffee-hulling mills and is suitable for cabinetwork, inte- 
rior finish, and general building purposes where a hard, tough wood is required. 

Wood light to dark brown, streaked with a decidedly beautiful wavy grain, moder- 
ately fine grained, taking a good polish, hard, and heavy. Pores small, isolated, or in 
groups of two or three, evenly distributed. Pith rays niinute, inconspicuous. Struc- 
turally similar on the radial section to the American beech. 



TEEES OF PORTO RICO. 95 

156. Vitex divaricata Sw. Higuerillo, P^ndula, Palo de pendula, Pendula bianco; 
Lizard wood, Fiddle wood (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet Hgh and from 20 to 30 inches in diameter, found in mountain- 
ous regions, common to many of the islands of the Lesser Antilles. Used locally for 
shelves, boards, framework of houses, in cabinetwork, and suitable for all inside and 
outside work. 

Wood white, moderately fine grained, hard, heavy (about 50 pounds per cubic foot), 
strong, and durable. Pores small, isolated or in groups of from two to five. Pith rays 
narrow, inconspicuous. 

*15'J'. Avicennia nitida Jacq. Chifle de vaca. Mangle bianco, Mangle bobo; Black 
mangrove (Br. W. I.). 

Shrub or tree from 40 to 70 feet high and from 12 to 24 inches in diameter, found in 
tidal swamps. Widely distributed throughout the West Lidies, and the shores of the 
American and African continental Tropics. The wood is used locally for foundations, 
underpinning for houses, fence posts, drains, and for charcoal and fuel. 

Wood dark brown, rather coarse grained, with conspicuous tangential lines visible 
on a transverse surface, hard, heavy, and very durable in damp situations. Pores 
small, isolated or in groups of from two to five, arranged largely in radial lines. Pith 
rays narrow, inconspicuous. 

LIV. BlGNONIACE^. 

158. Tabebuia. 

This genus embraces two local species, first described by Urban in 1899, of very lim- 
ited distribution, namely, Tabebuia rigida Urb. (Roble), from 20 to 60 feet liigh from 
the Luquillo region, and Tabebuia schumanniana Urb. (Roble Colorado), from 30 to 
50 feet high, ©ccm'ring in the mountains near Utuado. 

Wood light brown, fine grained, taking a good polish, moderately hard and heavy, 
strong, tough, and very durable. Pores small, numerous, arranged in conspicuous 
tangential lines visible to the unaided eye on a smooth transverse surface. Pith rays 
inconspicuous. 

*159. Tecoma pentaphylla (L.) Jnss. Roble, Roble bianco; West Indian boxwood. 

Tree from 20 to 60 feet high, quite common throughout the island, particularly in the 
limestone hills, and found in the Antilles generally. The wood is used in Porto Rico 
and throughout tropical America for ox yokes, piles, for house and boat building, and 
for general purposes. 

Wood white and fine grained, moderately hard, heavy (about 52 pounds per cubic 
foot), and strong. _ Pores small, isolated or in groups of two or three, evenly distributed. 
Faint tangential lines of soft tissue may be seen with a hand lens. Pith rays minute, 
inconspicuous. 

160. Tecoma leuycoxylon (L.) Mart. Roble, Roble prieto; White wood (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 20 to 60 feet high most commonly found in the limestone hills of the south 
coast and less frequently in the SieiTa de Luquillo and Cordillera Central. Not an 
important tree in Porto Rico, but in other parts of tropical America it yields a wood 
used for f m-niture, house building and sounding boards, and musical instruments, also 
for posts, piles, and other purposes in exposed situations. 

Wood resembles somewhat that of the preceding. 

Note. — Another species of little importance is Tecoma haemantha (Bertero) 
Griseb. (Roble), from 25 to 30 feet high, from the coast hills and interior valleys. 

*161. Crescentia cujete L. Higiiero; Calabash (Br. W. I.); Jicara, Tigulate, Temante, 
Palo de melon, Melon tree (Mexico and Central America). 

Wild and cultivated tree from 10 to 45 feet high and from 12 to 18 inches in diameter, 
widely distributed tlu-oughout the island. The wood is not known to be used locally, 
but the rind or bony outside covering of the fruit, like the shell of the coconut, finds 
a multiplicity of domestic uses for cooking utensils and tableware. The wood is used 



96 BULLETIN 354, U. S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. 

in Jamaica for tool handles, carriage parts, felliea of wheels, saddles, and chairs. It 
is also employed for sliip's knees and cabinetwork in Mexico and Central America. 

Wood light brown, coarse grained, taking a good polish, moderately hard, heavy 
(about 54 nounds per cubic foot), very tough, flexible, and durable in the ground. 
Pores small, isolated or in groups of two or three, evenlv distributed. Alternating 
tangential wavy lines of hard and soft tissue are barely vikilde to the unaided eye on 
a smootlily cut tranverse surface. Pith rays narrow, inconspicuous. 

LV. RUBIACM!. 

163. Rondeletia portoricensis Krug & Urb. 

A recently described tree from 20 to 60 feet high and from 12 to 20 inches in diameter, 
occurring in various places in the Sierra de Luquillo and Cordillera Central. 

*163. Randia acuhaia L. Tintillo, Palo de espinillo, Palo de cotorra, Cambr6n, Escam- 
bron; Ink berry (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 20 to 30 feet high and from 6 to 9 inches in diameter, widely distributed 
throughuot the island. Wood little used. 

Wood dark brown, fine, close and straight grained, taking a very good polish, hard, 
heavy, strong, tough, and very durable. It resembles the true lignum-vitse in general 
appearance. Pores exceedingly small and indistinct. Pith rays very narrow and 
scarcely visible under the hand lens. 

*164. Genipa americana L. Jagua, Ilagua. 

Tree from 30 to 60 feet liigh and from 15 to 20 inches in diameter, widely distributed 
throughout the island and the West Indies generally. The wood is suitable for pack- 
ing boxes, shoe lasts, barrel hoops, and wherever strength and elasticity are required. 

Wood light brown, tinged with red, very fine grained, moderately hard, heavy 
(about 54 pounds per cubic foot), strong, tough, and durable; in these qualities it 
resembles the ash. Pores small, isolated, or occasionally in pairs, evenly distributed. 
Pith rays numerous, narrow, inconspicuous. 

165. Guettarda scabra (L.) Lam. Palo de cucubano, Serrasuela. 

Tree from 20 to 40 feet high and from 8 to 12 inches in diameter, occurring in the 
coast hills cliiefly, and sparingly in the interior valleys. The wood is used principally 
in building nat've huts. 

Wood ash-colored, moderately fine grained, rather hard and heavy (about 54 pounds 
per cubic foot). Pores small, isolated or in groups of from two to five or more, and 
evenly distributed. Pith rays small, inconspicuous. 

Note. — Other less important species with very limited distribution and wood 
similar to the above are G. krugii Urb., G. ovalifoUa Urb., and G. Isevis Urb., 
which attain a height of from 30 to 60 feet and occiu" chiefly in the coast liills and 
shore woodlands. 

166. Antirrhoea obticsifolia Urb. Tortuguillo. 

Tree from 25 to 45 feet liigh, found in the mountains of the Luqmllo region and 
Yabucoa. The wood is apparently little used, although suitable for structural and 
cabinet work. 

Wood light reddish-brown, straight and fine grained, taking a good polish, hard, 
heavy, and strong. Pores minute, evenly distributed tliroughout the annual rings 
of growth, which are easily visible to the unaided eye. 

167. Antirrhoea coriacea (Vahl.) Urb. Quina, Palo de quina, Boje, Boje quina. 
Tree from 40 to 50 feet high and sometimes 2 feet in diameter, chiefly occurring in 

the northern part of the island. Occurs also in several of the islands of the Lesser 
Antilles. The wood is used for carpentry work, fiurniture, cabinetwork, and frame- 
work of houses. 



TREES OF PORTO EICO. 97 

Wood yellowish, very fine and straight grained, taking a very good polish, hard, 
heavy, strong, though brittle, and very durable in contact with the soil. 

Note 1. — Antirrhoea sinlenisn Urb. (Quina) is a tree sornetimes 45 feet high, 
described from the limestone hills in the vicinity of Utuado, Lates, and Manali, 
and yielding yellowish wood similar to that of Antirrhoea corincea. 

Note 2. — Chione, a closely related genus, is represented by one species of little 
known importance. Chione venosa (Sw.) Urb. (Martin avila, Palo bianco, Santa 
olalla), a tree fi'om 20 to 50 feet high reported from the Sierra de Luquillo, Siena 
de Lares, and the vicinity of Bayamon and Toa-Alta. Found also in several other 
of the West Indies. Wood is said to be made into lumber. 

*168. Coffea arabica L. -Caf^, Cafe macho; Coffee (Br. W. I.). » 

A cultivated and seminaturalized tree from 10 to 20 feet high and from 2 to 4 inches 
in diameter, grown in plantations at all elevations but doing best in sheltered locations 
at or above 2,500 feet on the northern and western parts of the island. Native of 
Arabia. Coffee is one of the most important articles of export of Porto Rico. The 
wood is often used for walking sticks. 

Wood white, very fine grained, taking a fine polish, hard, heavy, strong, and tough. 
Pores minute, very numerous and evenly distributed. Pith rays minute and incon- 
spicuous. 

*169. Ixoraferrea (Jacq.) Benth. Palo de hierro, Dajao, Palo de dajao, Hackia; West 
Indian or Martinique ironwood (Br. W. I.). 

Tree from 15 to 30 feet high, occurring quite generally in the limestone hills and 
somewhat on the slopes of the interior mountains. Elsewhere in the West Indies and 
in the northern part of South America it sometimes attains a height of from 30 to GO 
feet and a diameter of from 1 foot to 2 feet. The wood is not reported as being used 
locally, but in the other countries where it occurs it is used largely for cogs, shafts, 
and furniture. 

Wood dai'k brown, taking a very beautiful polish, exceedingly hard, heavy, very 
strong, and tough. 

170. Other genera of this family represented by tree species. 

Psychotria brachiata Sw. (Palo de cichimbo), usually a shrub or small tree, but occa- 
sionally 45 feet high; Palicourea alpina (Sw.) DC, shrub or small tree from 15 to 30 
feet high; and Faramea occidentalis (L.) A. Rich (Cafeillo, Palo de toro), from 15 to 
45 feet high, all rather widely distributed locally as well as generally throughout the 
West Indies. 

LVI. CaprifoliaceyE. 

171. Sambucus intermedia var. insularis Schwerin. Saiico. 

A cultivated and seminaturalized tree occurring in various places throughout the 
island. Introduced firom Central America and found in many of the other West In- 
dian Islands. 

LVII. Gramine^. 

172. Bambusa vulgaris Schrad. Bambd; Bamboo. 

This bamboo (although the bamboos belong to the grass family and are not trees at 
all) has an erect wood stem which attains a height of 40 feet and a diameter of 4 inches, 
and is rather commonly distributed over the island, particularly along the watercourses 
and throughout the West Indies. It is a native of Java. The bamboos, of which 
there are many species, ai'e adapted to a wide variety of uses and their planting should 
be greatly extended in Porto Rico. 
, 21871°— Bull. 354—16 7 



APPENDIX II. 

BIBLIOGRAPHY. 

UST OF THE BOOKS CONSULTED IN THE PREPARATION OF THIS WORK. 

Abbad y Lasierra, Fray Inigo. Historia geogrdfica, civil y politica de la Isle de S. 

Juan Bautista de Puerto Rico. Madrid, 1788. 
Areas of the United States, the States and the Tereitokies. Bulletin 302, U. S. 

Geological Survey. 
Barrett, 0. W. The Fall of Porto Eican Forests. In Plant World, Vol. V, No. 6, 

June, 1902. 

and GiFFORD . (See Giff ord . ) 

Britton, N. L. Recent Botanical Explorations in Porto Rico. Journal New Yorl^ 

Botanical Garden, May, 1906. H. 

Broun, A. F. Silviculture in the Tropics. MacMillan, 1912. • 

BuRxs-MuRDOCK, A. M. Notes from the Federated Malay States. Indian Forester, 

Vol. XXX No. 10, October, 1904. 
Caine, Thomas A. {See Dorsey.) 
Capolletti, C. General Report of the Proceedings of the Navigation Congress. 

Milan, 1905. 
Census of Porto Rico 1899. Taken under the direction of the U. S. War Depart^ 

ment. 
Census, U. S., Thirteenth Decennial, 1910. 
Clifford, George, 3d Earl of Cumberland. The Voyage to Saint John de Porto 

Rico. In Purchas, his Pilgrimes, pt. IV, 1625. 
Collins, G. N. {See Cook.) 
CoGGSHALL, George. 36 Voyages to Various parts of the World between 1799 and 

1841. 
Cook, O. F. The Origin and Distribution of the Coconut Palm. Contributions from 

U. S. National Herbarium, Vol. VII, No. 2. 
. Shade in Coffee Cultui-e. Bui. 25, Division of Botany, XJ. S. Dept. of 

Agriculture. 
. Vegetation Affected by Agiicultiu'e in Central America. Bui. 145, Bureau of 

Plant Industry. 
and G. N. Collins. Economic Plants of Porto Rico. Contributions from the 



U. S. National Herbarium, Vol. VIII, pt. 2, 1903. 
DoRSEY, Clarence W., Louis Mesmer, and Thomas A. Caine. Soil Survey from 

Arecibo to Ponce, Porto Rico. Field Operations, BtU'eau of Soils, U. S. Dept. 

of Agriculture, 1902. 
Export op Farm and Forest Products, 1909-1911. Bui. 96, Bureau of Statistics, 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 
Fassig, Oliver L. The Climate of Porto Rico. Unnumbered Circular, Weather 

Bureau, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 
Fernow, B. E. The High Sierra Maestra (including a list of trees and botanical notes 

by Norman Taylor). Forestry Quarterly, Vol. IV, No. 4, December, 1906. 
Fewkes, Jesse Walter. The Aborigines of Porto Rico and Neighboring Islands. 

Part of 25th Annual Report Bureau of American Ethnology. Washington, 1907. 
Flinter, Col. G. D. An Account of the Present State of the Island of Porto Rir-o. 

London, 1834. 
Gazetteer of Porto Rico. Bui. 183, Series F, Geography. U. S. Geological 

Survey, 1901. 
Gifford, John C. The Luquillo Forest Reserve, Porto Rico (with appendix. Trees of 

the Luquillo Region, by John C. Gifford and O. W. Barrett). Bui. 54, Bureau of 

Forestry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture, 1905. 
98 



BIBLIOGRAPHY. 99 

Haeris, W. The Timbers of Jamaica. Bulletin, New Series, Vol. I, No. 1, Depart- 
ment of Agriculture. Jamaica. 
Harshberger, John W. Phytogeographic Survey of North America, being a part of 

Die Vegetation der Erde, by Engle and Drude, 1911. 
Hearn, Lafcadio. Two Years in the French West Indies. New York, 1890. 
Herrera, Antonio de. The General History of the Vast Continent and Islands of 

America * * *, translation by Capt. John Stevens. Vol. IV. London, 1726. 
HrLL, Robert T. Notes on the Forest Conditions of Porto Rico, Bui. 25, Division 

of Forestry, TJ. S. Department of Agriculture, 1899. 
Imports of Farm and Forest Products, 1909-1911. Bui. 95, Bureau of Statistics, 

U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 
Inioo, Fray. {See Abbad y Lasierra.) 
K-NAPP, Seaman A. Report on Investigation of the Agricultural Resoiu^ces and 

Capabilities of Porto Rico. Senate Doc. 171, 56th Cong., 2d Sess. 
Ledrue, Andre Pierre. Voyage aux iles de Teneriffe, La Trinite, Sainte Thomas, 

Sainte Croix, et Porto Rico, etc. Vol. II. Paris, 1810. 
Leyes de Los Reinos de las Indias. Recapilacion de. Book 4, title 12, Trans, by 

Bureau of Insular Affairs, War Dept. 
Mesmer, Louis. {See Dorsey.) 
Morris, Daniel. Report on the Economic Resources of the West Indies. Kew 

Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information, Additional Series, I, 1898. 
Murphy, Louis S. A Preliminary Report on the Forest Problems of Porto Rico. 

First Report Board of Commissioners of Agriculture of Porto Rico, January 1, 

1912. 
North American and West Indian. Gazetteer, 1778. 
Oviedo y Valdes, Gonzalo Fernandez de. Historia General y Natural de las 

Indias, Vol. I. 
Philippine, Director of Forestry. Annual Report of 1912. 
Porto Rico. Reports of the Governor of, from 1899 to 1913. 

. The Registers of, for 1901 and 1910. 

Rea, John T. West Indian Timbers. Indian Forester, Vol. XXVIII, No. 12. 

Dec, 1902. 
Robin, C. C. Voyages dans I'interieur de la Louisiana, de la Florida, occidentale, 

etc. * * * pendant les annees 1802-6, Vol. I. 
Schimpee, a. F. W. Plant Geography upon a Physiological Basis (Trans, by W. R. 

Fisher). Oxford, 1903. 
Summary of Transactions in U. S. Customs District of Porto Rico for the fiscal 

years 1909, 1910, and 1911. 
Taylor, Norman. {See Fernow.) 
Thurston, Lorrin A. Report of. Chairman of Committee on Forestry of Hawaii 

Sugar Planters' Association, 1907. 
Trade with Non-contiguous Posssessions in Farm and Forest Products, 

1901-1903, 1904-1906. Buls. 31 and 54, Bureau'of Statistics, U. S. Dept. of 

Agriculture. 
Underwood, L. M. Report on a Trip to Porto Rico. Journal New York Botanical 

Garden, November, 1901. 
Weyl, W. E. Labor Conditions in Porto Rico. Bui. 61, Bureau of Labor, Depart- 
ment of Commerce and Labor, November, 1905. 
Wilson, H. M. Water Resources of Porto Rico. Water Supply Paper No. 32, U. S. 

Geological Survey, 1899. 
Woodward, Karl W. Informe sobre las Condiciones Forestales de la Republica 

Dominicana. Santo Domingo, 1910. 



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